The public prosecutor's office in Munich has charged four managers of the insolvent spyware manufacturer Finfisher with illegal exports. They are said to have sold the Trojan "FinSpy" to the Turkish secret service MIT by deliberately circumventing EU export controls. Now the Munich I Regional Court must decide on the admission of the indictment, reports the German Press Agency.
Shell company in Bulgaria
Michael Hanfeld
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Finfisher could not be reached for comment. The company is insolvent and ceased operations in the spring of 2022. Finfisher's customers also included the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA), which had not used the software. According to the indictment, the group generated the majority of its sales outside the EU, for which export licenses have been required since January 2015. According to the prosecutor's office, Finfisher then carried out these transactions through a shell company in Bulgaria.
The price for the illegal sale to the Turkish secret service is said to have been five million euros. "FinSpy" was the main product of the group of companies. According to the public prosecutor's office, the software allowed complete control over the spied mobile phones and PCs. The Turkish secret service is said to have used the software to spy on members of the opposition.
Opposition spied on in Turkey
The spyware was installed on a website disguised as the mobilization website of the Turkish opposition movement of current presidential candidate Kemal Kilicdaroglu, reports Reporters Without Borders. "FinSpy" probably enabled the surveillance of a large number of political activists and journalists. With the program, the Turkish secret service MIT can locate people, record their telephone conversations and chats and read out all cell phone and computer data.
The impetus for the investigation against Finfisher in July 2019 was provided by four non-governmental organizations: the Society for Civil Liberties, Reporters Without Borders, the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights and Netzpolitik.org. They provided a technical analysis that "FinSpy" was installed for download on a fake website of the Turkish opposition movement in 2017. The organizations filed criminal charges against Finfisher.
"This is the second direct success of our criminal complaint," said Katja Gloger, spokeswoman for the board of Reporters Without Borders: "In many cases today, violations of press freedom go hand in hand with the use of surveillance software. For those affected, every single case means a massive encroachment on their personal rights. Especially in authoritarian states, this can have dramatic consequences for journalists and their sources, for activists and members of the opposition."