Italy says Paragon spyware targeted victims in dozens of European countries

Seven Italians and victims in more than a dozen other European countries were targeted with spyware as part of a broad hacking campaign revealed by WhatsApp on Friday, the Italian government said.

The country’s Agenzia per la Cybersicurezza Nazionale (ANC), a cybersecurity agency, is investigating the alleged hacking attempts by Paragon Solutions, the Italian government said in a statement Wednesday. 

The statement appeared to deny that the government was behind the targeting, saying it “excludes” allegations that journalists and others have been “subjected to control by the intelligence, and therefore by the Government.” 

Victims who have come forward so far include an investigative journalist who has written about fascists Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s far-right party, an advocate for migrants and a Sweden-based Libyan activist who has criticized Italy.

WhatsApp lawyers briefed the ANC on the locations of the victims, the statement said.

Those targeted own phones with numbers tied to Belgium, Greece, Latvia, Lithuania, Austria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and Sweden, according to the statement.

WhatsApp has said that whoever is behind the attacks relied on Paragon Solutions spyware, a zero-click commercial surveillance tool which is now being used by the U.S. government., among others.

Paragon executive chairman John Fleming on Tuesday told TechCrunch that the company counts the U.S. government and its allies as clients but did not say which allies. Representatives for the company did not respond to a request for comment.

WhatsApp has said Paragon used a malicious PDF file to try and infect victims’ phones. The Meta-owned messaging platform said it has shut down the attack vector.