An Italian journalist speaks about being targeted with Paragon spyware

As an undercover journalist covering Italian politics, Francesco Cancellato is used to reporting on scandals. But he never thought he would be part of the story.

Late last month, WhatsApp announced that 90 people had been targeted with Paragon Solutions’ spyware via their accounts on the messaging platform. Cancellato, the editor-in-chief of the Italian newspaper Fanpage, is one of four victims to come forward so far. All four have been critical of the Italian government.

In an interview with Recorded Future News, Cancellato said he is not sure if Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s government is tied to the incident, though Paragon has reportedly ended its contract with Italy. 

While Cancellato thinks spyware is an effective means of fighting terrorism and crime, he is alarmed by how it is increasingly used to snoop on members of civil society.

“I think it's only the beginning of the use of spyware,” Cancellato told Recorded Future News. “I am very worried about what comes next.” 

This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

Recorded Future News: How did you find out about the spyware on your phone?

Francesco Cancellato: I had a message from Meta, from WhatsApp — they told me my account was hacked with spyware. They told me that my smartphone was compromised so I have to get another one.

When they [digital forensic researchers at Citizen Lab] called, my mind went to the Pegasus spyware. And [they] said, it is not Pegasus. It's other stuff.

RFN: Did you want to be publicly identified as a victim?

FC: I decided to go public. We [Fanpage] wrote first that I was hacked. We decided because we think it's news, it's something relevant. This is something relevant that a journalist, generally speaking, is hacked by spyware. And in Italy, the West, in Europe. And so we decided to go public. 

RFN: You are a reporter who has exposed young fascists in Prime Minister Meloni’s party. Can you tell me about that work?

FC: I am editor-in-chief of Fanpage, which is a newspaper. We develop a lot of undercover investigations. We are the only ones in Italy that does undercover journalism, and we basically do undercover [reporting] covering every topic, with every party. We are not [only] focused on the extreme right and neofascists. Recently, we had two big investigations about [far right political parties] Brothers of Italy and the Northern League. The first investigation was called the Black Lobby and it exposed the links between those parties and the very far, far, far right parties or groups. And the other one, the recent one, was [about] Meloni's youth and we had an undercover investigation inside the Brothers of Italy. 

[We found] a lot of antisemitic and racist and neofascist behavior, so that made a lot of noise, because, well, of course, that's the first party in Italy, and Giorgia Meloni is Prime Minister in Italy. So it was a huge scandal. That's why, when I was spied on, a lot of people said it was because of this investigation. But I don't know, I really don't know if there is a link between the two things…

I am quite sure that the attack comes from Italy, but not because of our investigation, but because of Paragon and the deal with one of the Italian investigation centers. [Paragon] cut off the deal. [Since] they cut off the deal, I know that the guys who spied on me were, I think, from Italy. 

I want to know who, and I want to know from what time, and I want to know why.

RFN: And if you do find out it's the government, what would your reaction be?

FC: I think it would be a huge scandal. And I think it's a problem for our democracy that  journalists are spied on by the government. 

RFN:  Would you be surprised if it turned out Meloni was involved?

FC: If I ever knew that she or someone in the government, or someone in the administration, wanted or authorized spying on a journalist? Well, I have to change my opinion about how I can relate to a prime minister in my own country. Of course, she's far right. She is a really good friend of Victor Orban [the prime minister of Hungary], who was involved in the Pegasus scandal. It's not a great curriculum vitae this one… They’re trying to repress dissent.

RFN: Has anybody from the government reached out to you?

FC: No. One member of the government [in Meloni’s party], today in the newspaper he expressed solidarity with me, as I was spied on. But he says, as I did an undercover investigation on them, spying is sort of like the same thing. So he basically said what goes around comes around. 

RFN: Are you happy to see that Paragon ended its contract with Italy? 

FC: I am worried about spyware circulating all over the world. I know that it can be used in an effective way to combat criminality or terrorism, and I'm very happy we have weapons against that. But at the same time I'm very worried about how it can be used to spy on activists and journalists. And we have not moved a single step from Pegasus… I think it's only the beginning of the use of spyware. I am very worried about what comes next. 

RFN: Have your sources expressed concern?

FC: Everyone has expressed concern. It affects a lot of things. It affects my ability to do my job. I don't know how many people will rely on me from now on.