The Hacking Mystery Roiling The Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s RightWing Government is Deepening after Researchers Said They Military-grade spyware that italy has admitted to using against activists.
A Parliamentary Committee Overseeing Intelligence Confirmed Earlier this month that italy had used mercenary spyware made by israel-based paragon solutions aganst tweo italian activists.
But the same committee, which launched an investment into the hacking scandal in March, said it has been unable to determine who was behind the targeting of a prominent italian engineer Journalist, Franca Cancellato, whose news outlet has been critical of the meloni government.
Now a report by researchers at the citizen lab has revised that a close colleague of cancellato, ciro pellegrino, who is head of the investigative utlet fanpage.it fanpage.it’s naples bureau, WAS ALSO TARGETED By a user of paragon solution’s spyware, which is called graphite. The citizen lab said a third journey, who chose to remain anonymous and is described as a “prominent european journey”, Had als also targeted with the spyware, it said.
The news comes as paragon and the Italian government has been engaged in an acrimonious public spat. Haaretz reported this week that paragon had offered to assist the Italian government in Investigation Cancellato’s case. Italy reportedly rejected that offer, with the Italian department of security intelligence saying it raised national security concerns.
Meloni’s office did not reply to a request for comment. A debate on the matter, which has prompted outrage amon the Italian opposition and meps in brussels, has been sure Scheduled in the European Parliament on 16 June.
Approached Paragon for comment on the latest development. It referred to comments it made to Haaretz, in which it confirmed it canceled its contrast with the Italian Government after reports first emerged in februry that cancelelato has been made. first reported that paragon was terminating its contract with italy in February.
Like other spyware vendors, paragon sels its cyberweapon to government clients who are supposed to use it to prevent crime. The company has said it sold its spyware only to democratic countries and that its terms of service for service for forbid agencies to use the spyware agansts or memebers of COCITY.
The question now remains who is behind the targeting of the two journey.
John Scott-Rilton, A Senior Researcher at the Citizen Lab, Said: “We found that bot journalists’ Phones boy paragon’s unmistakable fingerprints. Finger fingerprints matching the same paragon customer in both cases. “
A report released by the copasir parlomentary committee found that italy’s domestic and foreign intelligence agencies had contracts with paragon in 2023 and 2024, and that the hacking software was used white Permission of a prosecutor and in limited Circumstances. The committee said the spyware had been used to search for fugitives, Investigate alleged terrorism, organized crime, fuel smugging and couter-designage efforts.
It said the pro-immigrant human rights activities who were targeted-who included luca cassarini and giuseppe caccia-Had beed on due to their connection to “Irregular immigration” Because they were involved in human rights.
