Two European journalists were hacked using government spyware made by Israeli surveillance tech provider Paragon, new research has confirmed.
On Thursday, digital rights group The Citizen Lab published a new report detailing the results of a new forensic investigation into the iPhones of Italian journalist Ciro Pellegrino and an unnamed “prominent” European journalist. The researchers said both journalists were hacked by the same Paragon customer, based on evidence found on the two journalists’ devices.
Until now, there was no evidence that Pellegrino, who works for online news website Fanpage, had been either targeted or hacked with Paragon spyware. When he was alerted by Apple at the end of April, the notification referred to a mercenary spyware attack, but did not specifically mention Paragon, nor whether his phone had been infected with the spyware.
The confirmation of the first-ever known Paragon infections further deepens an ongoing spyware scandal that, for now, appears to be mostly focused on the use of spyware by the Italian government, but could expand to include other countries in Europe.
These new revelations come months after WhatsApp first notified around 90 of its users in over two dozen countries in Europe and beyond, including journalists, that they had been targeted with Paragon spyware, known as Graphite. Among those targeted were several Italians, including Pellegrino’s colleague and Fanpage director Francesco Cancellato, as well as non-profit workers who help to rescue migrants at sea.
Last week, Italy’s parliamentary committee known as COPASIR, which oversees the country’s intelligence agencies’ activities, published a report that said it found no evidence that Cancellato was spied on. The report, which confirmed that Italy’s internal and external intelligence agencies AISI and AISE were Paragon customers, made no mention of Pellegrino.
Citizen Lab’s new report puts into question COPASIR’s conclusions.
Techcrunch event Save $200+ on your TechCrunch All Stage pass Build smarter. Scale faster. Connect deeper. Join visionaries from Precursor Ventures, NEA, Index Ventures, Underscore VC, and beyond for a day packed with strategies, workshops, and meaningful connections. Save $200+ on your TechCrunch All Stage pass Build smarter. Scale faster. Connect deeper. Join visionaries from Precursor Ventures, NEA, Index Ventures, Underscore VC, and beyond for a day packed with strategies, workshops, and meaningful connections. Boston, MA | REGISTER NOW
“A week ago it seemed like Italy was putting this scandal to bed. Now they’ll have to reckon with new forensic evidence,” John Scott-Railton, a senior researcher at The Citizen Lab, told TechCrunch ahead of the report’s publication. “Ciro’s case adds to the big and politically tricky question: who has been hacking Italian journalists with Paragon spyware? This mystery needs an answer.”
Scott-Railton said the Citizen Lab believes that the Italian government is in a position to definitively answer questions about what was done with their use of Paragon spyware, particularly regarding Ciro’s case.
... continue reading