Italian Political Consultant Says He Was Targeted With Paragon Spyware

Francesco Nicodemo, a advisor who useful pinch left-wing politicians successful Italy, has gone nationalist arsenic nan latest personification targeted pinch Paragon spyware successful nan country. 

On Thursday, Nicodemo said successful a Facebook post that for 10 months, he preferred not to publicize his lawsuit because he “did not want to beryllium utilized for governmental propaganda,” but now “the clip has come.”  

“It is clip to inquire a very elemental question: Why? Why me? How is it imaginable that specified a blase and analyzable instrumentality was utilized to spy connected a backstage citizen, arsenic if he were a supplier trafficker aliases a subversive threat to nan country?” Nicodemo wrote. “I person thing much to say. Others must speak. Others must explicate what happened.” 

Online news tract Fanpage first reported nan news that Nicodemo was among the group who received a WhatsApp notification successful January.  

The revelation that Nicodemo was targeted pinch Paragon spyware widens nan scope — erstwhile again — of nan ongoing spyware ungraded successful Italy, which has ensnared respective victims from various positions successful society: respective journalists, migration activists, salient business executives, and now a governmental advisor pinch a history of moving for nan center-left Partito Democratico (Democratic Party) and its politicians.

Governments and spyware makers person agelong claimed that their surveillance products are utilized against superior criminals and terrorists, but these caller cases show that this isn’t ever true. 

“The Italian authorities has fixed immoderate spyware targets clarity and explained nan cases. But others stay troublingly unclear,” said John Scott-Railton, a elder interrogator astatine The Citizen Lab, who has for years investigated spyware companies and their abuses, including immoderate involving nan usage of Paragon spyware.  

“None of this looks bully for Paragon, aliases for Italy. That’s why clarity from nan Italian authorities is truthful essential. I judge that if they wanted to, Paragon could springiness everybody a batch much clarity connected what’s going on. Until they do, these cases are going to stay a weight astir their neck,” said Scott-Railton, who confirmed that Nicodemo received nan notification from WhatsApp. 

Natale De Gregorio, who useful pinch Nicodemo astatine their nationalist relations patient Lievito Consulting, told TechCrunch successful an email that Nicodemo did not want to remark beyond what he told Fanpage and his nationalist Facebook post. 

At this point, it’s unclear who among Paragon customers targeted Nicodemo, but an Italian parliamentary committee confirmed successful June that immoderate of nan victims successful Italy were targeted by Italian intelligence agencies, which are nether nan purview of right-wing premier curate Giorgia Meloni. 

A spokesperson for nan Italian premier minister’s agency did not respond to a petition for remark from TechCrunch.  

Jennifer Iras, nan vice president of trading for REDLattice, a cybersecurity institution that has merged pinch Paragon aft nan Israeli spyware shaper was acquired by U.S. backstage equity elephantine AE Industrial, besides did not respond to a petition for comment. 

In February, pursuing nan revelations of nan first activity of victims successful Italy, Paragon trim ties pinch its authorities customers successful Italy, specifically nan intelligence agencies AISE and AISI.  

Later successful June, nan Italian Parliamentary Committee for nan Security of nan Republic, known arsenic COPASIR, concluded that immoderate of nan Paragon spyware victims that had been identified publicly, namely nan migration activists, were lawfully hacked by Italian intelligence services.  

COPASIR, however, said location was nary grounds that Francesco Cancellato, nan head of Fanpage.it, an Italian news website that has investigated nan youth-wing of nan far-right ruling statement successful Italy, led by Meloni, had been targeted by either of Italy’s intelligence agencies, nan AISI and AISE.  

COPASIR besides did not analyse nan lawsuit of Cancellato’s workfellow Ciro Pellegrino. 

Paragon, which told TechCrunch that nan U.S. authorities is 1 of its customers, has an progressive contract pinch U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.