The Italian government said in a press release on Wednesday that a Spyware campaign discovered by WhatsApp, and conducted with Spyware made by Paragion Solutions, aimed at people in several European countries.
The government led by far -right Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni denied being the target of Italian citizens Francesco Cancellato, a journalist who leads the Fanpage.it news website, and Luca Casarini, an activist who works for Mediteranea Saves Humans, a non -governmental Organization that helps immigrants.
In the release, the government said its online security protective organization, Aganzia for La Cybersicurzza Nazionale (ACN – or National Cyber Security Agency) contacted whatsapp and its avant legal firm, which told authorities that there are seven phone users mobile in Italy who were targeted in the Spyware’s campaign. WhatsApp declined to ensure the identity of the objectives that quote concerns of intimacy, the government statement said.
Whatsapp also said there are mobile phone users in Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Republika Czecheke, Denmark, Germany, Greece, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and Sweden, based on the country’s phone codes, according to the Italian government statement.
WhatsApp did not respond immediately to a comment request, seeking to confirm the number of objectives in Italy, the countries mentioned by the Italian government and other claims attributed to WhatsApp by the Italian government.
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The Italian government statement reaches days after WhatsApp said it had broken a Spyware campaign aiming at about 90 users in over two dozen countries, including some in Europe.
Since Wednesday, Cancellato, Casarini and a Libyan activist based in Sweden, Husam El Gomati, who has been critical of the activities of Italian and Libyan governments against immigrants in the Mediterranean, saying they were campaign targets Spyware.
Paragon told Techcrunch on Tuesday that it sells its supervision technology to the US government and other unspecified “allies”.
The company also said that “requires all users to agree with terms and conditions that clearly prohibit the illegal target of journalists and other civil society figures”, adding that it has a “zero tolerance” policy against such a goal. Spyware manufacturer said he will “finish our relationship with every customer” who violates his service conditions.
Fleming and Paragon have not responded to requests for comment on this article, seeking to confirm or deny whether the countries mentioned by the Italian government are truly Paragon clients.
Italy’s ACN, as well as the Prime Minister’s office, did not respond to a comment request.
