page_title: FinFisher
hierarchical_section_title: FinFisher
caption_attribution_description: English: Suspected FinFisher government users that were active at some point in 2015. we identify 33 likely government users of FinFisher in 32 countries, based on the presence of a FinFisher master at an IP address in a country18 or belonging to a specific government department.
context_page_description: FinFisher, also known as FinSpy, is surveillance software marketed by Lench IT Solutions plc, which markets the spyware through law enforcement channels.
  FinFisher can be covertly installed on targets' computers by exploiting security lapses in the update procedures of non-suspect software. The company has been criticized by human rights organizations for selling these capabilities to repressive or non-democratic states known for monitoring and imprisoning political dissidents. Egyptian dissidents who ransacked the offices of Egypt's secret police following the overthrow of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak reported that they had discovered a contract with Gamma International for €287,000 for a license to run the FinFisher software. In 2014, an American citizen sued the Ethiopian government for surreptitiously installing FinSpy onto his computer in America and using it to wiretap his private Skype calls and monitor his entire family's every use of the computer for a period of months.
  Lench IT Solutions plc has a UK-based branch, Gamma International Ltd in Andover, England, and a Germany-based branch, Gamma International GmbH in Munich.
context_section_description: FinFisher, also known as FinSpy, is surveillance software marketed by Lench IT Solutions plc, which markets the spyware through law enforcement channels.
  FinFisher can be covertly installed on targets' computers by exploiting security lapses in the update procedures of non-suspect software. The company has been criticized by human rights organizations for selling these capabilities to repressive or non-democratic states known for monitoring and imprisoning political dissidents. Egyptian dissidents who ransacked the offices of Egypt's secret police following the overthrow of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak reported that they had discovered a contract with Gamma International for €287,000 for a license to run the FinFisher software. In 2014, an American citizen sued the Ethiopian government for surreptitiously installing FinSpy onto his computer in America and using it to wiretap his private Skype calls and monitor his entire family's every use of the computer for a period of months.
  Lench IT Solutions plc has a UK-based branch, Gamma International Ltd in Andover, England, and a Germany-based branch, Gamma International GmbH in Munich. Gamma International is a subsidiary of the Gamma Group, specializing in surveillance and monitoring, including equipment, software, and training services. It was reportedly owned by William Louthean Nelson through a shell corporation in the British Virgin Islands. The shell corporation was signed by a nominee director in order to withhold the identity of the ultimate beneficiary, which was Nelson, a common system for companies that are established offshore.
  On August 6, 2014, FinFisher source code, pricing, support history, and other related data were retrieved from the Gamma International internal network and made available on the Internet.
caption: Suspected FinFisher government users that were active at some point in 2015.
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