Tal Dilian, the founder of surveillance technology group Intellexa, has suggested that responsibility for the use and export of its Predator spyware ultimately lies with Greek authorities, as the fallout from Greece’s wiretapping scandal continues to widen.
Dilian said the company had strictly complied with European and international export regulations when supplying the controversial surveillance software, stressing that Intellexa only sells its technology to governments and law-enforcement agencies. His remarks appear to shift the focus of accountability towards the Greek state, which authorised export licences for the software.
The issue of exports has become one of the most sensitive aspects of the Predator scandal. During the period when the spyware was allegedly used within Greece, the country’s foreign ministry also granted licences allowing the technology to be exported from Athens to third countries, including Madagascar and Sudan. Sudan is currently experiencing one of the world’s most violent civil wars.
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The licences were issued with the signature of Giannis Smyrlis, then secretary-general of Greece’s foreign ministry, following applications submitted by the companies Krikel and Intellexa to the relevant state authority.
In a response to the investigative television programme Mega Stories, Dilian said Intellexa “operates strictly in accordance with European and international export regulations”, adding that the company itself does not conduct surveillance operations and does not retain operational access to systems once they are delivered.
“The responsibility for the lawful use of these technologies lies with the authorities that acquire and operate them,” Dilian said, referring to international frameworks that govern the export of controlled technologies.
His comments come as evidence gathered by an Athens court has been forwarded to prosecutors for potential investigation of additional offences related to the spyware affair.
Legal experts say Dilian’s argument reflects a defence strategy commonly used by companies operating in the surveillance technology sector. By framing Predator as an export-controlled product comparable to other dual-use technologies — items that can have both civilian and military applications — responsibility for how the system is used would lie with the end user rather than the manufacturer.
Under this logic, the role of the company resembles that of a manufacturer supplying controlled equipment, while the responsibility for lawful use rests with the government or state agency that purchases and deploys it.
Security analysts and officials have previously noted that advanced spyware tools can function as powerful digital weapons. Greece’s national security adviser, Thanos Dokos, has described such technologies as potentially as destructive as sophisticated military systems.
Dilian cited several international frameworks governing the export and use of surveillance technologies. Among them is the Wassenaar Arrangement, a global export-control regime established in 1996 and signed by 42 countries to promote transparency and responsibility in the transfer of conventional arms and dual-use technologies. In 2013 the arrangement was expanded to include digital “network intrusion” tools, effectively bringing spyware under its scope.
He also referred to the European Parliament’s committee of inquiry into the use of Pegasus and similar surveillance spyware, known as the PEGA committee. The committee was set up in 2022 to investigate the use of spyware against journalists, politicians and activists across the EU. Its findings, adopted in a European Parliament resolution in June 2023, highlighted concerns about the use of such technologies in several member states, including Greece, and called for stricter safeguards to protect fundamental rights.
According to that resolution, intrusive spyware tools such as Pegasus and Predator are marketed by their developers as products sold exclusively to governments and state agencies, including police forces and intelligence services, for use in combating terrorism and serious crime.
Dilian also pointed to the “Pall Mall Process”, an international initiative launched in London in February 2024 by the UK and France with the participation of dozens of countries, including Greece, as well as technology companies and civil society organisations. The initiative seeks to address the growing risks posed by the proliferation of commercial cyber-intrusion tools, including spyware and hacking services.
The declaration underpinning the initiative sets out principles aimed at improving transparency, oversight and accountability for both companies that sell such technologies and the governments that purchase and deploy them.
The Predator scandal has been one of the most politically damaging controversies in Greece in recent years, raising questions about surveillance practices, export controls and the role of private companies in the global spyware market. Dilian’s latest comments are likely to intensify scrutiny over the decisions taken by Greek authorities during the period when the software was both used domestically and exported abroad.
