Intellexa’s Predator spyware infected Angolan journalist’s device, Amnesty reports

According to Amnesty International, Intellexa’s Predator spyware infected the iPhone of Teixeira Cândido, an Angolan journalist and press freedom advocate, after he opened a malicious link sent via WhatsApp in May 2024. The investigation found that Predator is a powerful mobile spyware sold to governments for surveillance, and that the Angola case represents the first confirmed Predator attack there, with activity documented since at least early 2023.

Amnesty’s report states that on 4 May 2024, Predator ran on Cândido’s iPhone, with the attack giving attackers full access to messages, calls, emails, location, camera, microphone, passwords and other data, and that 11 further malicious WhatsApp links were sent through mid-June 2024. The malware infection was linked to a directory and a file name used to impersonate a system process, and the device was running iOS 16.2 at the time.

Amnesty stresses that such spyware operations undermine journalists’ rights to privacy and free expression and notes that the responsible customers remain unknown.