Beautiful Virgin Islands

Thursday, Nov 20, 2025

Greece’s spyware scandal expands further

Greece’s spyware scandal expands further

Some 33 people have been found to have traces of the illegal spyware Predator on their devices, including several members of the Cabinet, according to a newspaper report.
Greece’s ever-expanding spyware scandal got another twist on Saturday with the publication of a long list of names of state officials, journalists and businesspeople targeted with malicious software.

According to Greek newspaper Documento, some 33 people have been found to have traces of the illegal spyware Predator on their devices, including several members of the Cabinet of the conservative New Democracy government and members of their families, politicians in the main opposition Syriza party, journalists and businesspeople mainly from the media sector.

It is not clear whether all the people allegedly targeted have indeed clicked on the malicious link, effectively having their devices to be eventually infected. Most of the officials contacted by the newspaper said they were not aware that they were targeted or wouldn’t comment.

Among the people on the list are the finance minister, the foreign minister, two ex-ministers of civil protection, the development minister, the labor minister and the tourism minister, along with their spouses, as well as already known targets like the opposition Pasok leader Nikos Androulakis and journalist Thanasis Koukakis.

In a statement late Saturday, government spokesman Giannis Oikonomou said the report is “overwhelming in narratives while the evidence is absent,” added though that the report “needs to be thoroughly investigated by the authorities and especially by the Greek Justice, even though there is no documentation of the publication.”

“It is unthinkable and dangerous to suggest that the prime minister was tapping the foreign minister,” an official close to the foreign minister said, adding that Greece is constantly taking measures to secure the communications of the foreign minister, as many inside and outside of Greece would like to hear the conversations.

Greece’s eavesdropping scandal started to unfold in the summer when Androulakis discovered an attempted Predator wiretap on his phone. In August, the government of Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis acknowledged Androulakis had been under state surveillance (though not with Predator) — a move he called legal but wrong.

Since then, the saga has morphed into an espionage thriller that has involved spyware being planted on the phones of an ever-expanding network of politicians and journalists. Athens denies having ever used or purchased the illegal spyware.

A report in the Greek newspaper “Ta Nea” last weekend said that two ministers of the conservative government have been under surveillance “who seem to have had less-than-good relations with the prime minister’s associates.”

“Documento is set to publish a long list of persons targeted with Predator. Buckle up,” tweeted MEP Sophie in ‘t Veld, who is the rapporteur of the European Parliament’s PEGA Committee investigating the use of spyware in the EU. “Government ministers. Hello EU Commission are we paying attention? Another case of EU institutions being directly affected by spyware.”

“These are crucial times for democracy and justice,” the Syriza party said in a statement. “What a guilty PM now claims is of little importance. What matters is whether the judiciary finally rises to the occasion and whether the political system ultimately protects its basic dignity and democracy.”

The PEGA Committee completed its mission in Athens on Friday, but as ‘t Veld said, the group left “with perhaps more questions than we had when we arrived.”

At the same time, she noted in a press conference on Friday in Athens that everything suggests that circles within the Greek government were using the spyware.

“There are still 100 pieces missing, but you can see the image,” in ‘t Veld said. “Everything is pointing in the direction of people within government circles.”

“Do we have rock solid proof? No, we don’t because we don’t have the necessary information. If the authorities decide to declassify the information, then we would have that. We have to work on the basis of what we have,” in ‘t Veld said in Athens. “There is always the assumption of innocence, but that doesn’t mean we should be deaf and blind.”

She also said it is worrying that no material has been confiscated by the companies selling the spyware in Greece.

The chair of the PEGA Committee, Jeroen Lenaers, called on Athens to thoroughly investigate the allegations of abuse of surveillance. He added that the governments of Cyprus and Greece have made an effort to actively cooperate with the committee, responding to its questions and sharing their proposals for reforms that could bolster the fundamental rights of the citizens.

In the meantime, another report by the independent investigative website “Inside Story” said that in the days before the PEGA Committee’s arrival in Athens, an FBI team from the U.S. was in the Greek capital to investigate how far the illegal surveillance software has spread and who trafficked it.

The Greek administration had no knowledge of the visit, a government official said.

“The government will proceed with the universal ban on the purchase [of spyware], a move that will make Greece the first country in Europe to ban the circulation of malicious software in its territory,” Oikonomou said in the statement.

On Friday though, in ‘t Veld pointed to the fact that the use of this spyware is already illegal in Greece, so it would be more important to focus on the implementation of the legal framework.

With Greece heading to elections by next summer, in ‘t Veld underlined the need for the issue to be fully clarified before then.

“National elections are also European elections, so they have to be free and fair,” she said. “Any shadow has to be lifted before the elections.”
Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
Caribbean Reparations Commission Seeks ‘Mutually Beneficial’ Justice from UK
EU Insists UK Must Contribute Financially for Access to Electricity Market and Broader Ties
UK to Outlaw Live-Event Ticket Resales Above Face Value
President Donald Trump Hosts Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman at White House to Seal Major Defence and Investment Deals
German Entertainment Icons Alice and Ellen Kessler Die Together at Age 89
UK Unveils Sweeping Asylum Reforms with 20-Year Settlement Wait and Conditional Status
UK Orders Twitter Hacker to Repay £4.1 Million Following 2020 High-Profile Breach
Popeyes UK Eyes Century Mark as Fried-Chicken Chain Accelerates Roll-out
Two-thirds of UK nurses report working while unwell amid staffing crisis
Britain to Reform Human-Rights Laws in Sweeping Asylum Policy Overhaul
Nearly Half of Job Losses Under Labour Government Affect UK Youth
UK Chancellor Reeves Eyes High-Value Home Levy in Budget to Raise Tens of Billions
UK Urges Poland to Choose Swedish Submarines in Multi-Billion € Defence Bid
US Border Czar Tom Homan Declares UK No Longer a ‘Friend’ Amid Intelligence Rift
UK Announces Reversal of Income Tax Hike Plans Ahead of Budget
Starmer Faces Mounting Turmoil as Leaked Briefings Ignite Leadership Plot Rumours
UK Commentator Sami Hamdi Returns Home After US Visa Revocation and Detention
UK Eyes Denmark-Style Asylum Rules in Major Migration Shift
UK Signals Intelligence Freeze Amid US Maritime Drug-Strike Campaign
TikTok Awards UK & Ireland 2025 Celebrates Top Creators Including Max Klymenko as Creator of the Year
UK Growth Nearly Stalls at 0.1% in Q3 as Cyberattack Halts Car Production
Apple Denied Permission to Appeal UK App Store Ruling, Faces Over £1bn Liability
UK Chooses Wylfa for First Small Modular Reactors, Drawing Sharp U.S. Objection
Starmer Faces Growing Labour Backlash as Briefing Sparks Authority Crisis
Reform UK Withdraws from BBC Documentary Amid Legal Storm Over Trump Speech Edit
UK Prime Minister Attempts to Reassert Authority Amid Internal Labour Leadership Drama
UK Upholds Firm Rules on Stablecoins to Shield Financial System
Brussels Divided as UK-EU Reset Stalls Over Budget Access
Prince Harry’s Remembrance Day Essay Expresses Strong Regret at Leaving Britain
UK Unemployment Hits 5% as Wage Growth Slows, Paving Way for Bank of England Rate Cut
Starmer Warns of Resurgent Racism in UK Politics as He Vows Child-Poverty Reforms
UK Grocery Inflation Slows to 4.7% as Supermarkets Launch Pre-Christmas Promotions
UK Government Backs the BBC amid Editing Scandal and Trump Threat of Legal Action
UK Assessment Mis-Estimated Fallout From Palestine Action Ban, Records Reveal
UK Halts Intelligence Sharing with US Amid Lethal Boat-Strike Concerns
King Charles III Leads Britain in Remembrance Sunday Tribute to War Dead
UK Retail Sales Growth Slows as Households Hold Back Ahead of Black Friday and Budget
Shell Pulls Out of Two UK Floating Wind Projects Amid Renewables Retreat
Viagogo Hit With £15 Million Tax Bill After HMRC Transfer-Pricing Inquiry
Jaguar Land Rover Cyberattack Pinches UK GDP, Bank of England Says
UK and Germany Sound Alarm on Russian-Satellite Threat to Critical Infrastructure
Former Prince Andrew Faces U.S. Congressional Request for Testimony Amid Brexit of Royal Title
BBC Director-General Tim Davie and News CEO Deborah Turness Resign Amid Editing Controversy
Tom Cruise Arrives by Helicopter at UK Scientology Fundraiser Amid Local Protests
Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson Face Fresh UK Probes Amid Royal Fallout
Mothers Link Teen Suicides to AI Chatbots in Growing Legal Battle
UK Government to Mirror Denmark’s Tough Immigration Framework in Major Policy Shift
UK Government Turns to Denmark-Style Immigration Reforms to Overhaul Border Rules
UK Chancellor Warned Against Cutting Insulation Funding as Budget Looms
UK Tenant Complaints Hit Record Levels as Rental Sector Faces Mounting Pressure
×