Spyware Titans Dragged Into Court

Facade of a government building with the words Law and Justice and a statue on top

Eight Greeks whose phones were secretly hacked with Predator spyware are now demanding millions in damages from the company behind it, turning a European surveillance scandal into a direct challenge to the power of the spyware industry and the governments that used it.

Story Snapshot

Eight victims of Greece’s Predatorgate scandal filed a civil lawsuit in Athens seeking about €8 million in damages from Intellexa SA and 13 associated individuals.
The plaintiffs include journalists, lawyers, intelligence officials, and a cybersecurity expert whose phones were infected with the Predator spyware between 2020 and 2021.
The lawsuit follows landmark criminal convictions in Greece against four people linked to Predator, even as higher courts cleared state intelligence services and political leaders.
The case shows how powerful surveillance tools sold by private firms can be turned against ordinary citizens, while governments and corporations struggle to face real accountability.

Victims Turn to Civil Courts After Predatorgate Scandal

Eight people targeted in Greece’s Predator spyware scandal have now taken their fight to the civil courts in Athens. They filed a lawsuit against Intellexa SA, the company tied to the Predator tool, and 13 individuals they say enabled the hacking of their phones. Each plaintiff is asking for €1 million in moral damages for the invasion of their privacy and the breach of their private communications and data, bringing the total claim to roughly €8 million.

The lawsuit is part of the fallout from “Predatorgate,” the wider Greek surveillance scandal that exploded into public view in 2022. That scandal revealed that journalists, politicians, business leaders, and security officials had been monitored either by the National Intelligence Service or through Predator spyware running on their phones. The new civil case focuses on phone infections with Predator between 2020 and 2021 and seeks compensation for the emotional harm and fear caused by living under hidden digital surveillance.

Who the Plaintiffs Are and How Predator Worked

The plaintiffs form a cross-section of modern democratic life: journalist Thanasis Koukakis, other reporters, lawyers, a political scientist working in cybersecurity, and officers from Greece’s National Intelligence Service. One of them, Koukakis, was the first confirmed Predator victim in Greece, identified by researchers at the University of Toronto’s Citizen Lab. Their phones were infected by carefully crafted digital messages that installed Predator, allowing remote access to calls, messages, microphone, and camera without their knowledge.

The spyware at the heart of the case, Predator, was developed and sold by the Intellexa alliance, a network of European companies that marketed powerful surveillance tools to governments around the world. Once inside a device, Predator can see almost everything the user does and says, turning a pocket phone into a portable bug. Investigations have shown Predator was used not only in Greece but in many other countries, often against journalists, activists, and political opponents, raising broad fears of a global market for spying on citizens.

Criminal Convictions But Limited State Accountability

Earlier this year, a court in Athens convicted four people tied to Intellexa and a supplier company for unlawful access to private communications and data through Predator. The judge imposed heavy sentences of 126 years and eight months in prison on each of them, though Greek law means only a fraction of that could actually be served and the terms are suspended while they appeal. These convictions marked a rare moment when members of the spyware industry were held directly responsible for illegal surveillance.

At the same time, Greece’s Supreme Court cleared the national intelligence service and involved political officials of wrongdoing in Predatorgate. That decision fit a pattern seen across Europe: private vendors and low-level players face charges, while the state agencies that bought and used these tools escape legal blame. Rights groups say this gap in accountability feeds public anger and deepens the sense that there is one set of rules for ordinary citizens and a different, softer standard for governments and elites.

Why This Lawsuit Matters Beyond Greece

The new civil case could test whether victims of advanced spyware can win meaningful compensation from the companies that built and sold it. Across Europe and beyond, similar scandals have emerged involving different tools, yet victims often struggle to link specific hacks to named firms and officials in ways courts will accept. Here, the plaintiffs are armed with earlier criminal findings about Predator’s use in Greece and detailed forensic work by researchers, giving them a stronger starting point than many other victims have.

Predatorgate Victims Sue Intellexa for €8 Million in Major Spyware Lawsuit https://t.co/K4R8kszqdc pic.twitter.com/Mo9scqgldF

— Greek City Times (@greekcitytimes) July 8, 2026

The case also lands at a time when the global spyware business is under intense pressure but still growing. Governments demand powerful digital surveillance tools in the name of security and control, while citizens see those same tools turned inward, eroding basic rights like privacy and free speech. For readers in the United States worried about “deep state” behavior, tech overreach, and elites who play by their own rules, the Greek lawsuit is another warning sign: once these tools exist, they rarely stay safely in the box, and real accountability is hard to win.