Al Mayadeen English

  • Ar
  • Es
  • x
Al Mayadeen English

Slogan

  • News
    • Politics
    • Economy
    • Sports
    • Arts&Culture
    • Health
    • Miscellaneous
    • Technology
    • Environment
  • Articles
    • Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Blog
    • Features
  • Videos
    • NewsFeed
    • Video Features
    • Explainers
    • TV
    • Digital Series
  • Infographs
  • In Pictures
  • • LIVE
News
  • Politics
  • Economy
  • Sports
  • Arts&Culture
  • Health
  • Miscellaneous
  • Technology
  • Environment
Articles
  • Opinion
  • Analysis
  • Blog
  • Features
Videos
  • NewsFeed
  • Video Features
  • Explainers
  • TV
  • Digital Series
Infographs
In Pictures
  • Africa
  • Asia
  • Asia-Pacific
  • Europe
  • Latin America
  • MENA
  • Palestine
  • US & Canada
BREAKING
DPRK strongly condemnded the US strikes on Iran
Iran: Fars News Agency: A woman and her 6-year-old son were killed in an Israeli drone attack on Kermanshah Province
Iran: IRNA: Attack Wave 21 was not carried out, and the operation carried out minutes ago was from Yemen against targets in the occupied territories
Sirens are sounding in Tel Aviv and surrounding areas
Israeli military command: We identified missiles launched from Iran
Tunis: The legitimacy created by World War II is crumbling and the future belongs to free peoples of the world
Tunis: We emphasize that the aggression against Iran should not obscure other ongoing crimes, the first of which is the war of extermination against the Palestinian people
Tunis: International legitimacy does not permit or justify aggression against Iran under any cover or title
Tunisia: Foreign Ministry: We call for an end to the aggression against our sister country, Iran, and we do not limit ourselves to condemning the Zionist and American attacks
Iran: Nur News: An Israeli aerial assault is targeting the region of Parchin, east Tehran

Israeli spyware, Paragon, at center of Italian surveillance scandal

  • By Al Mayadeen English
  • Source: Israeli media
  • 6 Jun 2025 18:52
  • 1 Shares
4 Min Read

Italy’s use of the Israeli spyware sparks oversight and legal concerns.

Listen
  • x
  • Italy admits hacking activists with Israeli spyware Paragon
    Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni holds the 2024 year-end press conference in Rome on January 9, 2025 (AP)

An Italian parliamentary committee confirmed that the government used Israeli-made spyware Graphite, developed by cyber firm Paragon, to hack the phones of several migrant rights activists, though it found no evidence of spying on a prominent journalist critical of the ruling party.

The list of potential targets included civil society activists and an Italian investigative journalist who had exposed ties between Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's party and neo-fascist movements.

The revelations follow WhatsApp’s discovery of around 100 targeted accounts and a Citizen Lab investigation exposing how Paragon’s spyware was deployed globally.

Diplomatic fallout: Italy contacts 'Israel'

A recent report by the Israeli television program Zman Emet (Real Time) revealed that Italian officials were so outraged by Paragon’s move to block their access to the spyware that Italy’s prime minister reportedly contacted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for clarification.

On Thursday, the Italian parliamentary committee investigating the government’s use of spyware released its findings, an unusual moment of transparency in the typically opaque world of intelligence and surveillance.

Related News

Italian gov. under scrutiny as Israeli spyware targets journalists

Massive Rome protest demands end to Gaza war, condemns gov. complicity

The committee confirmed that Paragon had supplied its Graphite spyware to two Italian agencies, including the country’s external intelligence service, beginning in 2023. According to the report, the version provided did not allow activation of a device’s microphone or camera.

Instead, the spyware granted operators access solely to encrypted communications on compromised devices. The report also verified that Graphite exploited a WhatsApp vulnerability that Meta identified and patched in December 2024, just one month before the spyware’s activity became public.

Fallout in Israeli intelligence

The discovery of the WhatsApp vulnerability reportedly triggered "panic" within "Israel’s" elite military intelligence Unit 8200, according to the Israeli television program Zman Emet.

The Italian parliamentary committee also confirmed Meta’s findings that several migrant rights activists in Italy had their phones hacked. Among them were Luca Casarini, Giuseppe Caccia, and David Yambio, though in Yambio’s case, the breach was carried out using a different, unnamed spyware rather than Paragon’s Graphite.

The Italian committee confirmed that spyware surveillance of activists was legally authorized and began under previous governments but recommended stronger oversight. It also rejected claims that Italian agencies hacked journalist Francesco Cancellato.

The committee did not address that a second Fanpage journalist received a hacking alert from Apple, and authorities found no evidence that Cancellato was targeted. Paragon now sits between Meta’s partially confirmed claims and Italy’s denials, while Cancellato remains in the dark about who hacked his phone, when, or why, likely with no further answers forthcoming.

Misuse of surveillance technologies

The Paragon-Italy controversy unfolds amid escalating global concerns that sophisticated surveillance technologies, originally intended for counterterrorism and serious criminal investigations, are increasingly being misused for political ends, including the targeting of citizens and dissidents. While debates have long simmered over restricting exports of such tools to authoritarian regimes, the potential return of Donald Trump to the White House has renewed fears that US agencies like the FBI or CIA could employ them against political opponents or investigators.

At the same time, Western governments continue to pressure tech companies for access to encrypted communications. Just months ago, the British government called on Apple to build a “backdoor” into its iCloud service, a request the company is currently resisting.

  • Italy
  • Giorgia Meloni
  • Rome
  • Israel
  • Israeli occupation
  • Israeli spyware
  • paragon

Most Read

Iran launches 9th wave of Op. True Promise 3, destroys IOF air defense

Iran launches 9th wave of Op. True Promise 3, destroys IOF air defense

  • MENA
  • 17 Jun 2025
Rescue team work at the site where a missile launched from Iran struck Tel Aviv, Israel, Monday, June 16, 2025 (AP)

Wave 12 of Operation True Promise 3 launched, Sejjil deployed: IRGC

  • Politics
  • 18 Jun 2025
Israeli workers survey the site where a missile launched from Iran struck in Haifa on Sunday, June 22, 2025. (AP)

True Promise 3, wave 20: 40 missiles launched, Kheibar-Shekan in first

  • Politics
  • 22 Jun 2025
Iran launches missile barrage to Tel Aviv, casualties reported

True Promise 3, wave 14: Tel Aviv targeted, casualties reported

  • Politics
  • 19 Jun 2025

Coverage

All
The Ummah's Martyrs

Read Next

All
Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council Ali Shamkhani, speaks with then-Syrian Prime Minister Imad Khamis in a meeting in Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, January 17, 2017 (AP)
Politics

Iran holds the initiative after nuclear strikes, Shamkhani says

Blood stains a religious painting inside Mar Elias Church, where a suicide bomber detonated himself in al-Dwela, on the outskirts of Damascus, Syria, on Sunday, June 22, 2025 (AP)
Politics

UN, regional governments condemn Damascus church bombing

A B-2 bomber arrives at Whiteman Air Force Base Missouri, Sunday, June 22, 2025, after returning from a massive strike on Iranian nuclear sites on Saturday (AP)
Politics

Israeli media: US-Israeli strike on Iran failed to end war

China UN Ambassador Fu Cong addresses the United Nations Security Council, Monday, March 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
Politics

China slam US strikes on Iran nuclear sites

Al Mayadeen English

Al Mayadeen is an Arab Independent Media Satellite Channel.

All Rights Reserved

  • x
  • Privacy Policy
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Authors
Android
iOS