The Secrets of the US Spyware King
The CEO of spyware firm Paragon admits the company lacks the technical capability to monitor how its clients use its software. Following allegations of misuse against journalists and activists, the company canceled contracts with Italy, citing risk management rather than ethical investigation.
Why it matters
It raises significant ethical and regulatory questions regarding the accountability of private companies that sell offensive cyber-surveillance tools to governments.
Yet weeks after Paragon, then Israeli-owned, was acquired by the US equity firm AE Industrial Partners in December 2024 and merged with REDLattice—an American offensive cyber firm owned by AE that this week announced plans to go public—WhatsApp alleged that Paragon’s Graphite spyware was used to infect the phones of more than 60 individuals in more than 20 countries, including journalists and activists. Most of the targets were not identified, but the University of Toronto’s Citizen Lab named two journalists and two activists in Italy.
Italian authorities denied misuse. Paragon and its new US owners, despite their zero-tolerance policy for customer abuse of their software, initially declined to comment on the allegations, and reportedly was exploring potential legal action against WhatsApp after the company sent a cease-and-desist letter to Paragon. Within a week, however, Paragon had canceled the two contracts it had with Italy’s domestic and foreign intelligence agencies.
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