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The U.S. government has added two European spyware makers, Intellexa and Cytrox, to its economic denylist in a continued effort to combat malware providers catering exclusively to law enforcement and intelligence agencies.
Based in Greece and Hungary, Intellexa and Cytrox, along with two associated entities in Ireland and North Macedonia, have been accused by the U.S. Commerce Department of engaging in the “trafficking of cyber exploits” that pose threats to privacy, security, and U.S. national security.
As a result, the companies now find themselves on the Entity List, which triggers a review process by the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) for any export applications involving goods or services destined for these entities. Such applications will face a presumption of denial, implying that approval is unlikely.
At the time of writing, Intellexa had not responded to requests for comment, while Cytrox could not be reached.
In 2021, Meta and digital rights watchdog Citizen Lab accused Cytrox’s customers of utilizing the company’s spyware to target politicians and journalists. Furthermore, last year, Greek authorities raided Intellexa’s office amidst a wide-ranging scandal involving the spyware maker and the Greek government, alleging its use for spying on a politician and a journalist.
In the past year, the Commerce Department has also placed other prominent spyware vendors, such as NSO Group and Candiru, an Israeli firm, on the denylist.
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