Intelligence agencies around the world have been using weaponised surveillance malware to spy on "journalists, activists and political dissidents", according to previously unseen files released by Wikileaks today.

The fourth SpyFiles release from the whistleblower details how the German company FinFisher sold its surveillance suite to intelligence agencies in Hungary, Qatar, Italy, Mongolia and Bosnia, as well as police forces in the Netherlands and Australia.

"FinFisher continues to operate brazenly from Germany selling weaponised surveillance malware to some of the most abusive regimes in the world," said Julian Assange, editor in chief at Wikileaks.

"The Merkel government pretends to be concerned about privacy, but its actions speak otherwise. Why does the Merkel government continue to protect FinFisher?"

Earlier this year, Germany announced that it would launch an investigation into revelations from the National Security Agency (NSA) whistleblower Edward Snowden that Chancellor Angela Merkel's phone had been tapped.

Germany has also revealed plans to create its own internal internet that does not require traffic to run through US servers - thus reducing the risk of spying from foreign intelligence services.

Wikileaks estimated that FinFisher has earned around €50m (£40m) from the sale of its computer intrusion surveillance software.

Assange added: "This full data release will help the technical community build tools to protect people from FinFisher including by tracking down its command and control centres."