Sometime last week, between October 6 and 8 of 2020, customs, in conjunction with public prosecution, raided FinFisher company offices and private apartments in both Germany and Romania. A group of NGOs including NetzPolitik filed criminal complaints in Germany against the company, asserting the firm is exporting its malware products (used by German police) to foreign countries without obtaining permission.
Managing directors and employees are under active investigation along with the company for violating the Foreign Trade and Payments Act. These investigations begun last summer 2019. Exporting German-made malware outside the state required a license; lacking this, the trader is criminally liable.
FinFisher has formally stated they never exported their software to Turkey, after a sample was found in 2017.
If the relevant authorities find evidence of exporting malware without a license, FinFisher may have a case brought against it in European court.
NetzPolitik did have a prior case against the firm for supposed violations which the NGO lost due to a preliminary injunction silencing their claims.