Italian gov. under scrutiny as Israeli spyware targets journalists
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A growing surveillance scandal in Italy reveals military-grade Israeli spyware used against journalists critical of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s government.
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Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni holds the 2024 year-end press conference in Rome on January 9, 2025. (AP)
The hacking scandal troubling Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s right-wing government has intensified, as new findings reveal that two more journalists were targeted with military-grade spyware, The Guardian reported.
Earlier this month, a parliamentary intelligence committee confirmed that Italy had used Israeli-made Paragon Solutions spyware against two activists.
However, the same committee said it could not identify who was behind the surveillance of Francesco Cancellato, a prominent investigative journalist critical of the Meloni government.
Now, researchers at Citizen Lab have uncovered that Ciro Pellegrino, Cancellato’s colleague and head of Fanpage.it’s Naples bureau, was also targeted with Paragon’s spyware, Graphite.
Prominent European journalist targeted with Israeli spyware
A third individual, described as a “prominent European journalist,” was also reportedly targeted, further deepening the mystery and raising concerns about press freedom and government surveillance.
Tensions between the Italian government and Israeli spyware firm Paragon are escalating amid a growing surveillance scandal. According to Israeli newspaper Haaretz, Paragon recently offered to assist Italy in investigating the targeting of journalist Francesco Cancellato, but the offer was reportedly rejected by Italy's security intelligence department over national security concerns.
The controversy has sparked outrage among Italian opposition parties and members of the European Parliament, prompting a scheduled debate on the issue in Brussels on 16 June.
Italian government, Paragon part ways
When approached by The Guardian about the latest revelations, Paragon referred to previous comments made to Haaretz, where it confirmed it had terminated its contract with the Italian government following the initial reports in February about Cancellato’s surveillance—first reported by The Guardian.
Paragon has stated that it only sells its spyware to democratic countries and claims that its terms of service prohibit agencies from using it against journalists or members of civil society.
The issue of who is responsible for targeting the two journalists remains unanswered.
John Scott-Railton, a senior researcher at Citizen Lab, stated, “We found that both journalists’ phones bore Paragon’s unmistakable digital fingerprints. Making matters even more interesting, we found fingerprints matching the same Paragon customer in both cases.”
COPASIR report details limited use
A recent report from the parliamentary committee overseeing intelligence operations, COPASIR, confirmed that Italy's intelligence services had initially suspended and later canceled their agreements with Paragon. According to the report, the domestic and foreign intelligence agencies had entered into contracts with Paragon in 2023 and 2024, respectively.
The spyware was reportedly used on a limited number of targets and only under judicial authorization. The foreign intelligence agency deployed the software to pursue individuals involved in criminal and national security-related activities, including fuel smuggling, counter-espionage, and alleged terrorism.
The COPASIR report stated that surveillance of Mediterranea members was not conducted due to their human rights activism but rather in relation to their alleged ties to irregular immigration. This operation, it added, was conducted with government authorization.
Undersecretary Alfredo Mantovano, the government’s intelligence coordinator, approved the surveillance of Mediterranea activists Luca Casarini and Beppe Caccia on 5 September 2024.
The report also addressed claims made by journalist Francesco Cancellato, editor of the investigative news site Fanpage, who had alleged he was targeted using Paragon spyware. COPASIR stated that no evidence was found to support this claim.
