Italy’s Government Addresses WhatsApp Spyware Incident

By Raphael Satter

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Italy’s government announced on Wednesday that seven mobile phone users in the country were targeted by spyware on Meta Platforms’ (NASDAQ:META) WhatsApp messaging service, labeling the incident as “particularly serious”.

Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s office requested the National Cybersecurity Agency to investigate the matter while denying any involvement. Reports surfaced indicating that a journalist and a prominent migrant rescue activist were among those targeted.

Luca Casarini, co-founder of the Mediterranea Saving Humans charity, shared a spyware alert he received from WhatsApp last Friday, coinciding with Meta’s public claim against surveillance company Paragon Solutions for targeting about 90 users globally, including numerous reporters and activists.

In a statement, Meloni’s office noted that the cybersecurity agency was informed by WhatsApp, via a law firm, about the seven confirmed cases in Italy, but the names of those affected were withheld for privacy protection.

The agency also reported that spyware was detected among WhatsApp users in several other EU nations, including Belgium, Greece, Latvia, Lithuania, Austria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, and Sweden.

Meta’s announcement, along with a cease-and-desist letter to Paragon, alleged that the American-owned company had attempted to steal user data using a sophisticated technique that requires no interaction from its target, known as a “zero-click” hack.

Meta has refrained from commenting on the alert sent to Casarini. Paragon and its parent company, Florida’s AE Industrial Partners, also did not respond to inquiries.

Casarini has faced criticism from pro-government media for his work in rescuing migrants in the Mediterranean, where overcrowded boats often capsize. He has been previously prosecuted for allegedly aiding illegal immigration and noted that his communications were intercepted in connection to that case. However, he remains uncertain about the identity of those attempting to access his device, or if it had judicial approval. “It’s a violation of democracy,” he stated.

Casarini’s revelation followed Italian journalist Francesco Cancellato’s disclosure of receiving a WhatsApp alert the prior Friday. Cancellato, whose online newspaper Fanpage focuses on undercover investigations, recently uncovered startling content regarding Meloni’s youth wing, wherein members endorsed fascist ideologies and uttered the Nazi slogan, “Sieg Heil.”

Cancellato expressed shock over the intrusion but opted to await the findings of his newspaper’s investigation before jumping to conclusions about the perpetrators behind the hacking.