The U.S. Department of Treasury has introduced new sanctions against five executives and one entity linked to the Intellexa Consortium for their involvement in the creation, deployment, and sale of the Predator spyware. This action targets key figures, including Felix Bitzios, Andrea Nicola Constantino Hermes Gambazzi, and Merom Harpaz, among others, as well as the Aliada GroupInc., a British Virgin Islands-based company. The sanctions are part of an effort to curb the spread of harmful surveillance technologies that threaten privacy and national security.
The Intellexa Consortium, described as a decentralized network of companies, has been developing and marketing invasive spyware tools like Predator, which have been used by foreign governments. The Treasury’s move comes shortly after similar sanctions were placed on other Intellexa members earlier this year, and follows a resurgence in Predator activity, with its infrastructure evolving to evade detection in countries such as Angola, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), and Saudi Arabia.
This development coincides with Apple’s recent decision to withdraw its lawsuit against NSO Group, citing concerns about exposing sensitive threat intelligence that could weaken efforts to combat spyware in an expanding market.
