Those familiar with the issue are said to have targeted 90 people, including journalists and civil society members.
The decision to terminate the contract comes less than a week after WhatsApp announced that Paragon’s spyware was used to target dozens of people. Like other spyware vendors, Paragon sells cyber weapons to government clients who are supposed to use it to prevent crime. It remains unknown who is behind the alleged attacks that certain government clients are.
The decision to end the Italian contract followed a revelation that two activists who were critical of the Italian investigative journalist and Italian dealings with Libya were among those targeted by spyware. All three of them were critical of Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s right-wing government.
In response to allegations of involvement late Wednesday, Meloni’s office denied that the national intelligence reporting agency or the government was behind the alleged violation.
Those familiar with the issue of speaking to the Guardian while anonymous, Paragon first responded to “a wealth of attention” when the first allegations of potential abuse of spyware emerged last Friday. He said he had suspended his Italian contract. The decision to terminate the contract entirely came on Wednesday after Paragon determined that Paragon had violated the terms of service and ethical framework agreed under the Paragon contract.
The Guardian reached out to an Italian government spokesman for comment.
Meloni is expected to face more questions about alleged violations in Congress. The Italian government also revealed on Wednesday from WhatsApp that the number of Italians affected was told “seems like seven.” It is unknown who the other suspects are.
In response to comment, a Paragon representative refused to confirm or reject development and said it was the company’s policy to not discuss issues with potential clients.
Francesco Cancello, editor-in-chief of highly acclaimed investigative news outlet FanPage, was one of 90 people last Friday informed him that his phone had been targeted, and by hacking software There may be a compromise.
Like Pegasus, a spyware created by an Israeli NSO group, Paragon’s Graphite Spyware can infect your phone without the user’s knowledge or the user clicking on malicious links or emails. According to WhatsApp, 90 people most likely to have been compromised were added to the WhatsApp group chat, sending malicious PDFs, and possibly infected phones.
WhatsApp said all of the hacking attempts were discovered in December with the help of the University of Toronto’s Civic Research Institute, which tracks digital threats to civil society. It is not clear whether the individual may be monitored or how long the government clients involved in each case are still involved.
It is not entirely clear why Cancerato was targeted, but last year his publication published a famous investigation that exposed a young fascist within Meloni’s party. Two other people targeted, Husam El Gomati, a Libyan activist living in Sweden, and Luca Casarini, founder of NGO Mediterranea, are allegedly speaking about Italian voices in the abuses suffered by Libyan immigrants. Both critics of the voices that are said to have.
The Paragon move is likely to ease some concerns, but there are still unresolved questions about dozens of other cases WhatsApp has discovered. Italy said Wednesday that WhatsApp had been told by its people living in other countries such as Europe, Greece, Latvia, Lithuania, Austria, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and the Netherlands. Portugal, Spain, Sweden.
Paragon was reportedly recently acquired by a US company called AE Industry Partners. The company is described on its website as a private investment company with $5.6 billion in operating assets focused on markets, including national security. The company has not responded to requests for comment.
Paragon last year agreed to a $2 million contract with ICE, the US immigration and customs enforcement agency. The contract agreed under the Biden administration tried to determine whether it complied with an executive order restricting the use of spyware by the federal government, but was reportedly suspended. The current status of the contract is unknown. Neither Ice nor Paragon answers the Guardian’s questions about the contract.
