Paragon Solutions—Paragon terminated Italy contract after Graphite spyware found targeting Italian journalists and migrant-rescue activists
In February 2025 WhatsApp and forensic researchers at Citizen Lab disclosed that Paragon Solutions' Graphite spyware had been deployed against approximately 90 WhatsApp users worldwide, with confirmed Italian targets including investigative journalist Francesco Cancellato, head of the migrant-rescue NGO Mediterranea Saving Humans Luca Casarini, and activists working with refugees crossing the Mediterranean. Paragon, which had marketed Graphite as a 'responsible' alternative to NSO's Pegasus and was acquired by US PE firm AE Industrial Partners in 2024, publicly stated it had terminated its contract with Italy after the Italian government refused an audit. Italy denied authorizing targeting of journalists.
Scoring Impact
| Topic | Direction | Relevance | Contribution |
|---|---|---|---|
| Authoritarian Compliance | +toward | secondary | -0.50 |
| Press Freedom | -against | primary | -1.00 |
| Surveillance Technology | +toward | primary | -1.00 |
| User Privacy | -against | primary | -1.00 |
| Overall incident score = | -1.001 | ||
Score = avg(topic contributions) × significance (critical ×2) × confidence (0.57)
Evidence (1 signal)
Citizen Lab and WhatsApp disclosed Paragon Graphite spyware targeted Italian journalists and migrant-rescue activists
Citizen Lab and Meta's WhatsApp security team publicly disclosed in February 2025 that Paragon Solutions' Graphite spyware had been deployed against approximately 90 WhatsApp users including Italian investigative journalist Francesco Cancellato and Mediterranea Saving Humans founder Luca Casarini. Paragon publicly stated it had terminated its Italy contract after the Italian government refused an audit.