The Italian government announced that seven mobile phone users in the country were targeted by spyware on Meta's messaging app, WhatsApp. Meta accused an Israeli company, Paragon Solutions, of targeting 90 people with spyware.
Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's office asked the National Cybersecurity Agency to investigate after reports of a journalist and a prominent activist being targeted.
Luca Casarini, one of the founders of the Mediterranea Saving Humans NGO, sent Reuters a screenshot of the spyware warning he received on WhatsApp. On the same day, Meta accused the Israeli company Paragon Solutions of targeting around 90 users, including journalists and activists, in several countries.
A statement from Meloni's office confirmed that the cybersecurity agency was informed via a law firm about the seven cases verified by WhatsApp in Italy, but the names of the affected individuals were not disclosed to protect their privacy.
The spyware was also found among WhatsApp users in other European Union countries, including Belgium, Greece, Latvia, Lithuania, Austria, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, and Sweden.
Paragon Solutions, the company behind the spyware, allegedly used sophisticated techniques to steal data from users without requiring any interaction.
Paragon Solutions, founded by former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, had previously come under scrutiny after Wired magazine reported in October 2024 that it signed a $2 million contract with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to support national security investigations.
The administration of former U.S. President Joe Biden signed an executive order in 2023 banning the use of commercial spyware on government devices and domestic and international U.S. personnel electronics, considering them a national security threat. The $2 million deal with Paragon was temporarily suspended to review compliance with the ban. When President Donald Trump took office, many of Biden's decisions were reversed, but the spyware ban remained in effect.
Paragon, with an office in Chantilly, Virginia, was allegedly sold in December 2024 to AE Industrial Partners for $900 million. However, reports show that the deal has not yet received full legal approval in Israel, and Paragon is not listed among AE Industrial Partners' investments.
According to a person close to the company, Paragon provides services to governments of 35 countries considered democratic. The report also noted that Paragon does not work with countries accused of misusing spyware, such as Poland, Hungary, Mexico, and India.
It is known that cyber weapons like Graphite and Pegasus are used by the Israeli Ministry of Defense.
