Greek intelligence service used surveillance malware to spy on a journalist, Reuters reports

Greek intelligence admitted it had spied on a journalist, while citizens ask the government to reveal the use of surveillance malware.

The head of the Greek intelligence told a parliamentary committee that they had spied on a journalist with surveillance malware, Reuters reported citing two sources present.

The revelation comes while media and journalists are making pressure on the government to reveal the use of surveillance software.

The committee was called after the leader of the socialist opposition PASOK party, Nikos Androulakis, claimed authorities attempted to install surveillance software on his mobile device.

The practice of using surveillance malware to spy on journalists and politicians emerged in several European countries.

“At the July 29 hearing, Panagiotis Kontoleon, chief of the EYP intelligence service, told parliament’s institutions and transparency committee that his service had spied on Thanasis Koukakis, a financial journalist who works for CNN Greece, two lawmakers present at the hearing told Reuters.” reported Reuters.

“He admitted the surveillance, absolutely,” one of the lawmakers present at the hearing told Reuters on Wednesday.

Curiously the Government spokesman Giannis Oikonomou told Reuters that Greek authorities do not use the spyware allegedly used to spy on Koukakis.

In February, the European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS) authority this week called for a ban on the development and the use of surveillance software like the Pegasus spyware in the EU.

In April, a report published by Reuters revealed that Israeli surveillance software was used to spy on senior officials in the European Commission.

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Pierluigi Paganini

(SecurityAffairs – hacking, Greece)