Spyware from an Israeli company backed by the U.S. has been used to target the phones of at least three prominent journalists in Europe, according to digital researchers at Citizen Lab. The journalists, two of whom are editors at an investigative news site in Italy, were targeted using Paragon Solutions’ spyware known as Graphite.
The findings have sparked growing concerns about the potential abuse of commercial spyware, even in democratic countries. Questions are mounting about what role the government of Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni may have played in spying on journalists and civil society activists critical of her leadership.
“Any attempts to illegally access data of citizens, including journalists and political opponents, is unacceptable, if confirmed,” stated the European Union’s executive branch in response to inquiries from members of parliament.
Meloni’s office declined to comment, but a member of her Cabinet insisted that Italy has “rigorously respected” the law and that the government hadn’t illegally spied on journalists.
Paragon Solutions, the company behind the spyware, is backed by former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak. The firm has positioned itself as an ethical player in the mercenary spyware industry and has secured U.S. government contracts, according to The Associated Press.
Meta reported in January that Graphite was used to target around 90 WhatsApp users from more than two dozen countries, primarily in Europe. Since then, efforts have intensified to identify who was hacked and who was responsible.
“We’ve seen first-hand how commercial spyware can be weaponized to target journalists and civil society, and these companies must be held accountable,” a WhatsApp spokesperson told the AP.
Vittorio di Trapani, president of the Italian journalists’ union FNSI, expressed deep concern: “It is unacceptable in a democratic country that journalists are spied on without knowing the reason. We do not know how many there are and if there are others. The EU should intervene. The democracy of a founding country of the union and therefore of the whole of Europe is at stake.”
John Scott-Railton, a senior researcher at Citizen Lab, noted, “Paragon is now mired in exactly the kind of abuse scandal that NSO Group is notorious for. This shows the industry and its way of doing business is the problem. It’s not just a few bad apples.”
He added, “There’s no link to click, attachment to download, file to open, or mistake to make. One moment the phone is yours, and the next minute its data is streaming to an attacker.”
