🚨NEW REPORT: first forensic confirmation of #Paragon mercenary spyware infections in #Italy...
Known targets: Activists & journalists.
We also found deployments around the world. Including ... #Canada?
And a lot more... Thread on our @citizenlab.ca investigation 1/
https://citizenlab.ca/2025/03/a-first-look-at-paragons-proliferating-spyware-operations/
Known targets: Activists & journalists.
We also found deployments around the world. Including ... #Canada?
And a lot more... Thread on our @citizenlab.ca investigation 1/
https://citizenlab.ca/2025/03/a-first-look-at-paragons-proliferating-spyware-operations/
1 / 2
Comments
Harder to find...
...And more ethical too!
Of course, this caught our attention & we were skeptical.
Article: https://www.forbes.com/sites/thomasbrewster/2021/07/29/paragon-is-an-nso-competitor-and-an-american-funded-israeli-surveillance-startup-that-hacks-encrypted-apps-like-whatsapp-and-signal/
So my brilliant colleague @billmarczak.org developed a technique to fingerprint some of the mercenary spyware infrastructure (both victim-facing & customer side) globally.
So much for invisibility.
What we found startled us.
Fun.
+ stuff at a datacenter in #Germany.
Caveats: the methodology we use only surfaces a subset of customers at a particular time.
Some legal colleagues @citizenlab.ca led by @kate-ro.bsky.social grabbed the thread & went deep into public records.
The more they pulled, the more questions surfaced about whether the Ontario Provincial Police is rolling mercenary spyware.
More: https://www.thestar.com/opinion/contributors/ontario-police-have-been-linked-to-a-spyware-company-that-makes-it-easy-to-hack/article_ac10d540-04c8-11f0-8c41-3f48ed4463ed.html
We shared our analysis with Meta which had an ongoing investigation into Paragon.
WhatsApp discovered & mitigated a zero-click attack.
They went public & notified ~90 users they believed were targeted.
Incredibly helpful.
Francesco Cancellato. Editor in Chief of https://Fanpage.it & Luca Casarini & Dr. Giuseppe “Beppe” Caccia of Mediterranea Saving Humans
They consented to us doing a forensic analysis...
Researchers found suspected Graphite deployments in Australia, Canada, Cyprus, Denmark, Israel and Singapore