Paragon Spyware Targeted Human Rights Groups and Journalists: Study Reveals

Rome: The estimated 90 individuals who were notified that they had been spied on through the suspected use of Paragon Solutions’ ‘Graphite’ military-grade hacking software were likely a fraction of the total number of cases, according to a report published on Wednesday by The Citizen Lab, a research team from the University of Toronto.

According to Ansa News Agency, the research team conducted forensic tests on the cell phones of several individuals, including the editor-in-chief of investigative online newspaper Fanpage, Francesco Cancellato, the founder and missions chief of NGO Mediterranean Saving Humans Luca Casarini, and shipowner Beppe Caccia. The study reported that their devices had been infected with Paragon’s spyware.

The report highlighted that the approximately 90 targets who were notified by WhatsApp likely represent only a fraction of the total number of Paragon cases. “However, in the cases already examined, there is a concerning and familiar model of targeting human rights groups, government critics, and journalists,” stated the report, commissioned by Mediterranea Saving Humans.

Mediterranea further revealed that Meta has warned about the hacking software being used to collect data from various communication platforms, including emails, text messages, Telegram, Skype, Viber, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Signal, and WhatsApp of some of its members.