An internationally recognized human rights organization has revealed that a high-profile journalist from Angola fell victim to sophisticated surveillance technology last spring.
According to a Tuesday report from Amnesty International, Teixeira Candido’s mobile device was compromised by Predator spyware manufactured by the Intellexa company during a short timeframe in May 2024.
At the time of the cyber attack, Candido served as leader of the Syndicate of Angolan Journalists. The surveillance campaign began in April 2024 when he received multiple suspicious WhatsApp communications, the human rights group’s investigation found.
The malicious software was successfully installed on May 4th after Candido activated a hyperlink contained within one of these messages. This breach allowed the unknown attackers complete control over his device’s information, the report indicates.
Security experts and federal authorities have connected Intellexa’s surveillance tools to numerous privacy violations in recent years. Amnesty International noted this represents the first documented instance of Predator being deployed within Angola, though they stopped short of identifying which government entity may have purchased the technology.
Attempts to reach legal representatives for Intellexa on Tuesday were unsuccessful.
“I feel exposed, as if I were taking a shower with the bathroom door wide open,” Candido shared with Reuters via email before the report’s release.
The journalist remains uncertain about what information the cyber criminals may have extracted from his device. He explained that the attack came through contact with an unknown individual who claimed to represent a student organization seeking his professional input on a project.
Federal sanctions were imposed on seven individuals connected to the Intellexa Consortium in March 2024. Treasury Department documentation characterized the operation as “a complex international web of decentralized companies that built and commercialized a comprehensive suite of highly invasive spyware products” used against government workers, media professionals, policy analysts and political opposition figures.
The Trump administration lifted sanctions against three Intellexa leadership figures on December 30, 2025. A government source informed Reuters that these individuals had “demonstrated measures to separate themselves from the Intellexa Consortium.”
