{ "id": "07f2b672-edb8-44f2-9613-5c5d56787c16", "created_at": "2026-04-06T00:20:14.109371Z", "updated_at": "2026-04-10T13:12:12.375695Z", "deleted_at": null, "sha1_hash": "1fb28af8d4e130ced98046ee0feaf641498929f2", "title": "Our Criminal Complaint: German Made State Malware Company FinFisher Raided", "llm_title": "", "authors": "", "file_creation_date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z", "file_modification_date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z", "file_size": 646970, "plain_text": "Our Criminal Complaint: German Made State Malware Company\r\nFinFisher Raided\r\nPublished: 2020-10-14 · Archived: 2026-04-05 12:37:36 UTC\r\nFinFisher offices in Munich, Germany.\r\nThis is a translation of our original german reporting.\r\nLaw enforcement agencies have conducted a large-scale raid of the German state malware company group\r\nFinFisher last week. The customs authorities are investigating the suspicion „that software may have been\r\nexported without the required export license from the Federal Office of Economics and Export Control“.\r\nThe raids follow our criminal complaint, which we have written and submitted together with the Society for\r\nFreedom Rights, Reporters Without Borders and the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights.\r\n15 objects\r\nA spokesperson of the responsible public prosecutor’s office in Munich comments:\r\nIn co-operation with the Customs Investigation Bureau and supported by further prosecution authorities\r\nthe public prosecutor’s office Munich I searched 15 objects (business premises and private apartments)\r\naround Munich and an enterprise from the entrepreneurial group in Romania on 06.10.2020. The search\r\nlasted until the evening of 08.10.2020.\r\nInvestigations are still being conducted against managing directors and employees of FinFisher GmbH\r\nand at least two other companies on suspicion of violation of the Foreign Trade and Payments Act. The\r\ninvestigations were started in summer 2019 on the basis of criminal charges.\r\nhttps://netzpolitik.org/2020/our-criminal-complaint-german-state-malware-company-finfisher-raided/\r\nPage 1 of 3\n\nGerman public broadcasting first reported the raid.\r\n3 days\r\nFinFisher advertises its state malware as „complete IT intrusion portfolio“, both German federal police and Berlin\r\npolice have purchased the powerful surveillance tool. Variants of the FinFisher suite have been found in\r\ndictatorships like Ethiopia and Bahrain, or more recently again in Egypt.\r\nIn summer 2017 a FinFisher sample was discovered in Turkey. The authors of the criminal complaint assume that\r\nFinFisher is developed and produced in Munich. If true, the group of companies needs an export license, which\r\nthe German government has not issued. An export without a license would be a criminal offense.\r\nFinFisher denies these accusations. In a statutory declaration, the CEO states in September 2019:\r\nFinFisher Labs GmbH has developed the FinFisher software.\r\nFinFisher GmbH has at no time sold or distributed the FinFisher software in Turkey. Against this\r\nbackground, FinFisher GmbH has at no time violated export regulations of the Federal Republic of\r\nGermany or the EU.\r\nThe company Elaman also states, it „at no time sold or distributed the FinFisher software in Turkey“.\r\n2 Countries\r\nAfter our intial reporting on the criminal complaint, FinFisher took legal action with expensive lawyers and\r\nobtained a preliminary injunction against us, which was confirmed by the Berlin Regional Court. According to the\r\ncourt our accusations were not provable and our reporting was too one-sided and prejudicial. On the advice of our\r\nlawyer, we did not appeal the verdict any further.\r\nThe Customs Investigation Bureau and Public Prosecutors however take the accusations of criminal charges\r\nseriously enough to search 15 business premises and private apartments in Munich and Romania over a period of\r\nthree days. If the investigators find enough evidence, they can bring the case to trial.\r\nUntil then the presumption of innocence applies. We have sent a number of questions to FinFisher GmbH and its\r\npartner companies for this reporting. FinFisher, as always, has not responded to our request for comments.\r\nhttps://netzpolitik.org/2020/our-criminal-complaint-german-state-malware-company-finfisher-raided/\r\nPage 2 of 3\n\nDie Staatsanwaltschaft hat Geschäftsräume der Firmengruppe FinFisher in München und Rumänien durchsucht.\r\nEs geht um den Verdacht, Staatstrojaner-Software ohne erforderliche Genehmigung exportiert zu haben. Das\r\nErmittlungsverfahren wurde nach einer Strafanzeige eingeleitet, die wir gemeinsam mit anderen NGOs gestellt\r\nhatten.\r\nLesen Sie diesen Artikel: Razzia bei Staatstrojaner-Firma FinFisher in München\r\nSource: https://netzpolitik.org/2020/our-criminal-complaint-german-state-malware-company-finfisher-raided/\r\nhttps://netzpolitik.org/2020/our-criminal-complaint-german-state-malware-company-finfisher-raided/\r\nPage 3 of 3", "extraction_quality": 1, "language": "EN", "sources": [ "Malpedia" ], "origins": [ "web" ], "references": [ "https://netzpolitik.org/2020/our-criminal-complaint-german-state-malware-company-finfisher-raided/" ], "report_names": [ "our-criminal-complaint-german-state-malware-company-finfisher-raided" ], "threat_actors": [], "ts_created_at": 1775434814, "ts_updated_at": 1775826732, "ts_creation_date": 0, "ts_modification_date": 0, "files": { "pdf": "https://archive.orkl.eu/1fb28af8d4e130ced98046ee0feaf641498929f2.pdf", "text": "https://archive.orkl.eu/1fb28af8d4e130ced98046ee0feaf641498929f2.txt", "img": "https://archive.orkl.eu/1fb28af8d4e130ced98046ee0feaf641498929f2.jpg" } }