WhatsApp has sent a cease-and-desist letter to Paragon, which manufactures the spyware [Photo Illustration by Thomas Fuller/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images]
An Italian journalist was the first person to publicly proclaim that he has been targeted by Israeli-manufactured spyware, after WhatsApp said that 90 people had fallen victim to the cyberattack.
Francesco Cancellato, who investigates fascism in Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s far-right Brothers of Italy party said that he had not known his phone had been compromised and told The Guardian that the news felt like a “violation”.
He said that he was assessing how long the targeting had gone on and how much information had been compromised, as well as who ordered the surveillance activity.
“Obviously, it is also in our interest to know if it’s possible to do so, who ordered this espionage activity,” he told The Guardian.
Cancellato is the editor-in-chief of Italian investigative site Fanpage that largely reports on far-right politics.
Most recently, Fanpage reported on how members of the youth wing of the Brothers of Italy party engaged in fascist chants, Nazi salutes and antisemitic speech.
Cancellato is one of 90 WhatsApp users that were targeted by the spyware. WhatsApp earlier said that journalists and civil society activists were targeted by the spyware, but declined to name them.Â
Paragon Solutions, an Israeli software company that created the spyware, has 35 government clients according to the report. The company was founded by former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, although Israeli press reported the company had been sold to US-based firm AE Industrial Partners.
A person close to the company told The Guardian that the clients do not include governments that have previously been accused of abusing spyware. The person highlighted Greece, Poland, Hungary, Mexico and India as examples.
According to the report, experts say that the spyware, named Graphite, utilizes a “zero-click” attack meaning victims can get hacked without clicking on any link.
The spyware is similar to the Pegasus spyware developed by Israeli firm NSO Group that made headlines for being used against thousands of people, including human rights activists, journalists and government officials across the world.
WhatsApp is reported to have sent Paragon a cease and desist letter following the revelation.
