Paragon spyware deployed against journalists and activists, Citizen Lab claims - The Register

[justaprogressive]

Infosec newsbytes Israeli spyware maker Paragon Solutions pitches its tools as helping governments and law enforcement agencies to catch criminals and terrorists, but a fresh Citizen Lab report claims its software has been used to target journalists, activists, and other civilians.

snip

Citizen Lab at the University of Toronto, Canada, shared technical details of Paragon's infrastructure with Meta so that WhatsApp could identify and block a zero-click exploit used by Paragon to inject its spyware into a victim's device without that target having to touch anything. WhatsApp later notified 90 or so users, including journalists and civil society members, who were believed to have been targeted with Paragon's spyware.

"For journalists, human rights defenders, academics, and other members of civil society, we strongly recommend working with trusted experts to counter the risk of such attacks," the Meta business unit warned.

Citizen Lab identified several Italian WhatsApp users targeted by Paragon's spyware, including Francesco Cancellato, editor-in-chief of investigative outlet Fanpage.it. Luca Casarini and Giuseppe Caccia, co-founders of Mediterranea Saving Humans, a group known for rescuing migrants in the Mediterranean and criticizing the Meloni government's immigration policies, were also allegedly targeted.

https://www.theregister.com/2025/03/21/paragon_spyx_hacked/

[Eugene]

1. Same abuses, new vendor.

Pegasus all over again. I was half expecting the U.S. government to be the offender this time.

[Mike 03]

3. Thank you! I couldn't remember the name of Pegasus.

It's hard to believe, with all the conversations that Trump has had with Netanyahu, that this subject hasn't come up, or that Trump would not be intensely interested in deploying this software against not only the free press but many other of his "enemies within." He might also use it to try to find leakers. It's incredibly dangerous. And when you add A.I. capabilities in, I think it might be almost impossible to remain anonymous nowadays. But I hope I'm wrong.

[Eugene]

4. American companies like Palantir were trying to acquire Pegasus.

Talks have been going on and off during past few years.

[Think. Again.]

2. Is Paragon a Pegasus knock-off?

Or are they both coming from the same Israeli source?

[leighbythesea2]

5. Kicked

[Kid Berwyn]

6. Inslaw/PROMIS

The parent of so much that goes in underneath the hoodlums.