Amnesty International has identified Angolan journalist Teixeira Cândido as a target of the Predator spyware. The human rights organization discovered evidence that the journalist's Apple iPhone was compromised by the spyware, which is developed by the sanctioned surveillance vendor Intellexa. The attack is one of many instances of Predator being used against civil society, journalists, and politicians.
Predator is a highly invasive form of spyware that, once it infects a device, can grant an attacker complete access to its data, camera, and microphone without the user's knowledge. The Intellexa alliance, which develops and sells Predator, has been linked to spyware activity in numerous countries, including Angola, Sudan, and Vietnam.