Spyware Makers Finally Face Justice: Intellexa Executives Convicted in Greece

Four sentenced to 126 years each in the first criminal conviction for commercial spyware abuse

TL;DR: On February 26, 2026, an Athens court handed four Intellexa executives 126-year prison sentences each for illegally wiretapping a journalist and opposition leader using Predator spyware. The defendants include founder Tal Dilian, a former Israeli intelligence commander, and his ex-wife Sara Hamou. Under Greek law, they'll serve a maximum of eight years, and even that's suspended pending appeal. But the verdict sends a message: for the first time ever, spyware merchants face criminal consequences. The question now: will other countries follow?

The Verdict

Four people walked into an Athens misdemeanor courtroom on February 26, 2026. They walked out with convictions for breaching communications confidentiality and illegally accessing information systems.[1]

The convicted:

  • Tal Dilian: Former Israeli intelligence commander who founded Intellexa
  • Sara Aleksandra Fayssal Hamou: Dilian's ex-wife and business partner, described as a "corporate offshoring specialist" who ran Cyprus operations
  • Felix Bitzios: Former deputy administrator and beneficial owner of Intellexa
  • Yiannis Lavranos: Owner of Krikel, the Greek security company that purchased Predator

Each defendant received a sentence of 126 years and eight months. Greek law caps actual imprisonment at eight years, and even that is suspended while they appeal.[2]

None are currently behind bars. But for an industry that has operated with impunity for over a decade, a criminal conviction is unprecedented.

What They Did

The scandal known as "Predatorgate" erupted in March 2022 when journalist Thanasis Koukakis discovered his phone had been infected with Predator, Intellexa's flagship spyware. The software gave attackers full access to his microphone, camera, contacts, messages, and files: everything.[3]

Koukakis wasn't alone. Four months later, Nikos Androulakis, leader of the opposition PASOK-KINAL party, discovered his phone had also been targeted while he was serving as a Member of the European Parliament.[4]

In total, 84 mobile phones were compromised using Predator. The victims included journalists investigating Greek banking corruption, politicians, business figures, and academics.[5]

The Greek government has consistently denied purchasing or using Predator. In July 2024, the Supreme Court cleared intelligence services and political officials of wrongdoing. But the court found the private actors guilty.[1]

Who Is Tal Dilian?

Dilian isn't some shadowy hacker. He's a former commander of an elite Israeli intelligence unit who built a surveillance empire.[6]

After leaving Israeli military intelligence, Dilian founded Intellexa as a consortium of companies selling spyware to governments. The flagship product, Predator, works like NSO Group's Pegasus: it infects target phones through malicious links or "zero-click" exploits, then silently exfiltrates everything.

The business model is simple: build cyber weapons, sell them to government clients who want to spy on journalists and dissidents, then hide behind offshore corporate structures when things go wrong.

Intellexa operated through a maze of companies across Cyprus, Greece, Ireland, and beyond. When researchers or regulators got too close, the corporate shell game began. When U.S. sanctions hit in March 2024, Dilian and his partners were already on the blacklist.[7]

Yet Predator kept spreading. Researchers at Amnesty International and Citizen Lab documented infections in Angola, Pakistan, Vietnam, and beyond, even after the sanctions.[8]

Why This Matters

Commercial spyware has been terrorizing journalists, activists, and politicians for years. The pattern repeats: infection discovered, outcry follows, vendor denies responsibility, nothing changes.

NSO Group, maker of Pegasus, has been sued by WhatsApp, Apple, and multiple governments. A U.S. jury ordered them to pay $168 million to WhatsApp in 2025 (later reduced to $4 million but with a permanent injunction).[9] But those were civil cases. Nobody went to prison.

Candiru, Cytrox, QuaDream, Paragon: the spyware industry kept churning out new players. When one company faced heat, another appeared. The message was clear: there's money in surveillance, and no real consequences.

Greece just changed that equation. Not dramatically (the defendants remain free) but symbolically. Criminal convictions exist now. A court looked at the evidence and said: this is a crime.

Amnesty International's Rebecca White called it a "landmark ruling" that "signals the end of the era of impunity for the surveillance industry."[1]

What Happens Next

The four defendants have 10 days to appeal. Given the suspended sentences, they'll almost certainly remain free during proceedings.[2]

But the case isn't over. The court forwarded the file to prosecutors for preliminary investigation into potential espionage charges and possible collaboration with foreign intelligence services. Eight additional individuals may face scrutiny.[4]

Defense attorney Zacharias Kesses, representing victim Koukakis, called the verdict "a good start" but lamented that "very serious crimes have not been investigated, such as espionage and participation of third parties."[5]

The Greek government still hasn't answered a basic question: who authorized the surveillance? The spyware didn't deploy itself. Someone had to acquire it, someone had to operate it, and someone had to choose the targets.

Koukakis himself welcomed the ruling but emphasized it's just the beginning. The verdict "protected the rights of the citizen, the journalist, ensuring their privacy," he said, adding that it "sends a very resounding message that those who act arbitrarily by violating these goods will face the consequences of the law."[4]

Could Other Countries Follow?

Greece's conviction raises an obvious question: what about everywhere else?

Pegasus infections have been documented in dozens of countries. Predator spread across Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. Paragon's "Graphite" spyware reportedly targeted Italian journalists in 2025. The victims keep piling up.[10]

Most countries lack the legal framework or political will to prosecute spyware vendors. The companies operate across borders, hide behind shell corporations, and often sell to the same governments that would have to prosecute them.

Greece prosecuted because the victims were Greek citizens, the surveillance happened on Greek soil, and the political scandal became too big to ignore. Androulakis, the targeted politician, leads the main opposition party. Koukakis was investigating corruption at one of the country's largest banks.

Other countries would need similar conditions: prominent victims, domestic jurisdiction, and political pressure to act. Poland, Spain, and Mexico have all had Pegasus scandals. None have produced criminal convictions.

The Greek case doesn't create international precedent. But it demonstrates that prosecution is possible when governments choose to pursue it.

The Bottom Line

For over a decade, commercial spyware vendors operated with near-total impunity. They sold digital weapons to authoritarian governments, helped dictators silence journalists, and faced nothing worse than bad press and occasionally U.S. sanctions.

Greece just demonstrated that criminal accountability is possible. Four people who built and sold surveillance tools now have convictions on their records. The sentences are light, the appeals will drag on, and nobody's actually in prison.

But something shifted. The surveillance industry just lost its perfect record of consequence-free operation. Whether other countries follow remains to be seen, but the precedent now exists.

Tal Dilian built his empire on the assumption that selling spyware to governments carried no personal risk. That assumption is now tested. Not demolished, but tested.

References

  1. Amnesty International - Greece: Convictions in 'Predatorgate' Scandal Offer Rare Accountability (February 2026)
  2. Balkan Insight - Greek Court Finds Four Executives Guilty in Predator Spyware Case (February 26, 2026)
  3. Al Jazeera - Greek Court Finds 4 Guilty in Major 2022 Spyware Scandal (February 26, 2026)
  4. Courthouse News Service - Athens Court Convicts Four Over Greece Spyware Saga (February 2026)
  5. The Record - Intellexa Founder, Three Others Sentenced in Greek Spyware Scandal (February 2026)
  6. ICIJ - Greek Court Convicts Intellexa Founder Tal Dilian in Wiretapping Scandal (February 2026)
  7. U.S. Treasury - Treasury Sanctions Spyware Network Targeting Americans (March 2024)
  8. Citizen Lab - Predator Spyware Targets Activists and Journalists
  9. Axios - NSO Group Must Pay $168M in WhatsApp Lawsuit (May 2025)
  10. Citizen Lab - Spyware Litigation Tracker