"Speaking at a public event hosted by the Eteron think tank in Athens on Thursday on spyware, democratic oversight and the rule of law, Deibert placed Greece’s Predator scandal within a broader international trend in which governments are increasingly relying on private surveillance vendors while accountability mechanisms struggle to keep pace.
Citizen Lab, the University of Toronto-based research center internationally known for exposing digital surveillance operations, has spent years investigating what Deibert described as the “mercenary spyware industry” — a transnational ecosystem of companies selling governments tools capable of compromising mobile devices, tracking targets and conducting covert surveillance.
While spyware vendors often argue such technologies are necessary to combat terrorism and serious crime, Citizen Lab’s findings have repeatedly shown journalists, opposition figures, activists and human rights defenders among those targeted across multiple jurisdictions.
“The investigative journalists who worked on this case in Greece are real heroes,” Deibert said, arguing that domestic reporting efforts played the decisive role in bringing the scandal into public view.
The Greek case emerged internationally after revelations that Predator spyware had been used against journalists, political figures and individuals linked to state institutions, triggering investigations at both national and European level and placing Athens under scrutiny over transparency and democratic oversight."
https://www.dnews.gr/eidhseis/news-in-english/589746/citizen-lab-s-ron-deibert-accountability-may-be-delayed-but-the-truth-will-emerge
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