The 'Justice March' held by Turkey’s parliamentary main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) in 2017 and protesters participated were reportedly deceived into downloading a spy software designed by a German firm, while many politicians and activists eavesdropped via this spy software," German media outlets said, citing digital rights organization Access Now's report.
"Turkish officials had used the spy software 'FinSpy' made by FinFisher, a German company headquartered in Munich, in order to eavesdrop the politicians and protestors affiliated to the main opposition CHP," Süddeutsche Zeitung daily, public broadcasters NDR and WDR said.
According to the Access Now's 32-page report, it was primarily used during a three-week protest titled 'Justice March'. It was a 450 km (280-mile) march from Ankara to İstanbul to protest against arrests that were made as part of the government crackdown.
The march led by CHP set out from Ankara on June 15, one day after CHP deputy Enis Berberoğlu was sentenced to 25 years in jail for allegedly leaking footage to a newspaper showing that Turkey’s intelligence service had smuggled weapons to jihadist in Syria.
According to the report, the infiltration was realized through fake Twitter accounts' links promising to inform protesters about the demonstration if they download the program to their smartphones.
The smartphone application offered by these fake Twitter accounts included a spy software named FinSpy, and it allowed the unwanted parties to get access to all details and information of the smartphone owners including contacts, photos and videos.
A security expert at Germany’s University of Bochum independently analyzed the software and told Süddeutsche Zeitung, NDR and WDR that "it appeared to be a newer version" of previous FinSpy software.
It is stated on the web-page of FinFisher that "The company is in cooperation with intelligence services of the countries to fight against terrorism".
Access Now group claims that FinFisher might deliver services to spy on the dissents living in foreign countries, and thus the anti-government protestors in Turkey. The report argues that neither FinFisher nor the Turkish government responded to the questions regarding the allegations, as it is also noted the Federal Police of Germany uses the spy software made by FinFisher.
Governments around the world are increasingly using spyware made by companies such as FinFisher or its Italian competitor Hacking Team.
The German Ministry of Economy announced it had not approved any export licenses for a spy software like FinSpy in recent years, while FinFisher officials rejected to comment on the issue after the German outlets contacted with them.
In 2014, WikiLeaks whose founder is Julian Assange had announced to the world that this spy software had been sold to many countries by the approval of the German government.
