On Wednesday, Mediterranea Saving Humans, an Italian nonprofit focused on rescuing migrants attempting to cross the Mediterranean Sea from Africa to Europe, revealed that one of its founders was a target in a recent spyware operation against WhatsApp users.
In a statement, Mediterranea announced that last week, WhatsApp informed its founder, Luca Casarini, that he was targeted by spyware developed by Paragon Solutions, an Israeli surveillance technology company. On Friday, WhatsApp disclosed that it had disrupted an espionage initiative employing Paragon spyware that affected approximately 90 individuals.
At that time, the Meta-owned platform stated that among those targeted were journalists and civil society members, although specific names were not disclosed. Since then, some affected individuals, including Casarini, have begun to step forward.
The first to publicly reveal his experience was Francesco Cancellato, director of Fanpage.it, an Italian news outlet known for its investigations into organized crime and corruption. Last year, the platform released a series of reports highlighting members of the youth faction of Italy’s ruling party singing songs glorifying fascist dictator Benito Mussolini, chanting Nazi slogans, and making racist comments.
Following Cancellato, activist Husam El Gomati, based in Sweden, also came forward. El Gomati has been outspoken about the collaboration between Libya and Italy in preventing migrants from making the perilous Mediterranean crossing. Now, Casarini has also been notified by WhatsApp regarding his situation.
All three individuals share a commonality: their work, or the efforts of their organizations, has been critical of the current Italian administration led by far-right Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.
“Sea rescue operations and support for those detained in Libyan camps or forced into the desert are under scrutiny from Italian intelligence agencies, particularly AISE, which operates in Libya and Tunisia,” Mediterranea stated in its announcement. “This raises several questions: Did the Italian government authorize such an operation? Are Italian intelligence services utilizing Paragon software?”
Contact Us
Do you have additional information about Paragon and this spyware initiative? From a non-work device, please reach out to Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai securely via Signal at +1 917 257 1382, or through Telegram and Keybase @lorenzofb, or via email. You can also contact TechCrunch through SecureDrop.
To date, the Italian government has not addressed these inquiries, nor has it commented on the situations faced by Cancellato and Casarini.
Requests for comments sent to the Italian government and Fabrizio Alfano, head of Meloni’s press office, have gone unanswered by TechCrunch, which included queries about whether Italy has acquired Paragon’s spyware.
An Israeli news outlet, Ynetnews, reported on Monday that the Italian government is indeed a customer of Paragon.
John Fleming, executive chairman of Paragon’s U.S. subsidiary, didn’t respond to requests for comments regarding Casarini’s situation or any inquiries made on Wednesday.
On Tuesday, Fleming confirmed to TechCrunch that Paragon, which was acquired by the U.S. private equity firm AE Industrial in December, sells its products “to a select group of global democracies — chiefly, the United States and its allies.”
“[Paragon] mandates that all users adhere to terms and conditions that categorically prohibit illegal targeting of journalists and other civil society figures. We enforce a zero-tolerance policy against such actions and will sever ties with any customer found in violation of our terms of service,” Fleming stated.
Fleming has yet to address questions regarding Paragon, including whether the Italian government is a client, and whether the company is investigating the allegations made by WhatsApp and those affected.
Mediterranea stated that The Citizen Lab, a digital rights organization at the University of Toronto, is examining Casarini’s phone for evidence of spyware.
John Scott-Railton, a senior researcher at Citizen Lab, confirmed to TechCrunch that they are actively looking into Paragon’s activities.
Scott-Railton cautioned that these incidents serve as a reminder that the mercenary spyware industry, represented by companies like NSO Group and Paragon, has been complicit in various abuses over the years, even within democratic nations.
“When you sell covert surveillance tools to democracies, you must be exceptionally wary of your customers and acknowledge the potential for abuse at any moment. Neglecting this is a conscious choice to remain ignorant. It illustrates a fundamental issue with the mercenary spyware model: if you provide surveillance technologies, it’s not a matter of if they will be misused, but rather when,” Scott-Railton emphasized.
Compiled by Techarena.au.
Fanpage: TechArena.au
Watch more about AI – Artificial Intelligence
