Predator Spyware Used in Armenia: Samvel Martirosyan

There exists an international market where hacking organizations sell malicious software to state structures, capable of infecting computers and phones. These are often used against opposition figures and journalists. This was stated by information security expert Samvel Martirosyan in an interview with NEWS.am.

“In December 2021, it was first recorded that one of these software programs, Predator, was used in Armenia. Meta and Citizenlab have discovered that it has been utilized in Armenia. An infected phone is fully controlled, enabling recording of phone calls, monitoring messages, and more. Based on the report, the software has been used in both political and media sectors. This could involve journalists and editors. Hackers purchased the software on the 'black market,' where it costs hundreds of thousands of dollars,” he said.

“Google has revealed that two zero-day vulnerabilities were exploited to attack Armenian targets. Google is closing these vulnerabilities, but if the phone is not updated, the spyware will continue to operate. The scheme works in such a way that they buy the media name but in a different domain, and when the link is clicked, the phone becomes controlled,” Martirosyan added.