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Wednesday, MediterraneanAn Italian non -profit with the rescue of immigrants trying to cross the Mediterranean from Africa to Europe, says one of its founders was in the target of recent spyware promoting against WhatsApp users.
In a press noticeThe Mediterranean said that WhatsApp last week, Luca Cassarini informed her founder that she was targeted with spyware created by Israeli Surveillance Technical Startup Paragon Solutions. Friday, WhatsApp says it has disrupted a spying promotion Paragon uses spyware that targets about 90 people.
At that time, the meta-owned company said that there were journalists and civil society members in the goals, without any names. Since then a few goals, including Cassarini, have begun to come forward.
The first person was Francesco CanseltoDirector Fanpage.ITAn Italian news website that has published an organized crime and corruption investigation. Report of publishing last year A multi-part documentary It shows that some members of the party’s youth branch are currently conducting the Italian government in the song about the fascist dictator Benito Mussolini, the Nazi slogan and made racist comments.
After Canceloto, Sweden -based worker Husam El Gomati Also came forwardThe Libya and Italy have criticized how Libya and Italy have assisted immigrants in the Mediterranean. And now, Casserini is the last person who notified by WhatsApp.
There is a similarity for three goals, their work or their organizations, the current Italian government, led by the remote Prime Minister Georgigia Meloni.
“The rescue of the sea and the assistance of exile in the Libyan camps or in the desert is the focus of the attention of the Italian Secret Services, especially this ice, which is operated in Libya and Tunisia,”. “Some questions are raised: Has the Italian government approved such operations? Is Italian Secret Services uses Paragon software? “
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Do you have more information about Paragon and this spyware promotion? From a non-work device, you can contact Lorenzo Francesi-BICCichiyrai to +1 917 257 1382 at the signal or telegram and kibes @Lorenzfby, or through E -mailThe You can contact TechCrunch through SecuredropThe
So far, the Italian government has not answered this question, or the government has also commented on the cancelot or Cassarini case.
The Italian government, through its official press email address, as well as the chief of the Press Office of Meloni, did not respond to TechCrunch’s comments and requests, which included whether Italy had purchased Paragon Spyware.
YetNews, an Israeli news site, Report Monday that Italy is a paragon customer.
John Fleming, executive chairman of Paragon’s assistant organization, did not respond to the request to comment on the Casserini case, nor did he respond to the comment on Wednesday.
Tuesday, Fleming told TechCrunch That Paragon, Which was acquired by this industry in the US Private Equity Fund in DecemberIts products are “selling to an elected group of global democracy – basically, the United States and its associates.”
“[Paragon] All users and conditions that are clearly prohibited the illegal targets of journalists and other civil society personality are agreed to the terms and conditions. Fleming said in a statement, “We have a zero-tolerance policy against this national goal and will stop our relationship with any customer who violates the terms of our service.
The Italian government has not yet answered questions about whether the Italian government is a customer and the Paragon WhatsApp allegations and whether the targets are still investigating the targets so far.
The Mediterranean said that Citizen Lab, a digital rights organization at the University of Toronto, has been investigating Spyware for more than a decade, investigating Casserini’s phone.
Senior researcher at Citizens Lab, John Scott-Relton TechCrunch, confirmed that they were actively investigating Paragon.
Scott-Railton warned that these cases were another reminder that the tenant spyware industry, including NSO groups and paragon companies, has been abusing for years and even in democratic countries.
“If you sell surveillance tools, when the technology will be abused is just a question, not whether it will be,” Scott-Releleton said.
“If you sell secret surveillance to democracy, you still need to be incredibly skeptical about your customers and the possibility of hiding around the abuse at each corner. If you do not do that you are choosing the willly ignorance. To me, it points to something basic about the tenant spyware model, which if you sell surveillance equipment, when the technology will be tortured is just a question, not whether it will be, “Scott-Releleton said.
