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US-backed Israeli company's spyware used to target European journalists
- zelphirkalt 1y ago[flagged]
- gtsop 1y agoI lol when I see such comments downvoted. I'd love to see some written rationale for the downvote.
- zelphirkalt 1y agoNot really a rationale, but many people go like this: (1) Israel with US, so against Israeli military = against US = you bad! (2) Israel = Jewish, so if you against Israel then you = anti-semite! = you bad! (3) Oh, you positive about enemy of Israel, so you against Israel, so you bad! All of which are, of course, utter nonsense. And of course it cannot be said in a public forum, without people becoming fearful, because the truth has been said. Cannot possibly discuss this! And in case you do manage to state it somewhere, Bots might flag or downvote you into oblivion. That, or people with no clue what's going on in the world and weird misplaced feelings of allegiance.
- seydor 1y agoSame as happened in greece a few years back against the leader of opposition and journalists using Predator
- rationalfaith 1y ago[dead]
- breppp 1y agoIt's amazing that US and Israel are the only countries mentioned in the headline While the story itself is about Italy spying on a journalist in another EU country But I guess news sites needs them clicks
- linotype 1y ago[flagged]
- Kapura 1y agothe current regime has shown hostility to keeping europe peaceful, what do you want?
- linotype 1y agoHow so? By asking Europe to pay for the defense of Europe?
- thomassmith65 1y agoAlso by floating proposals that the Danish and British cede their stewardship of Greenland and Canada to the USA.
- returningfory2 1y agoCanada is an independent country and not under the stewardship of the British.
- cess11 1y agoCharles III is the king of Canada, which is part of the Commonwealth.
- returningfory2 1y agoThe fact that they share a head of state is irrelevant? If it was relevant, you could equally make the claim that Britain is under the "stewardship" of the Canadians. I think the British would be surprised to hear that!
- deleted 1y ago[deleted]
- sailfast 1y ago[flagged]
- kennywinker 1y agoCollections? Like debt collection? Where are you getting that? Or are you calling gov spyware on journalists phones normal?
- CapricornNoble 1y ago>Collections? Like debt collection? Where are you getting that? It's a term used in the military/national security circles for intelligence gathering. https://www.intelligence.gov/careers/explore-careers/intelligence-collection https://www.intelligence.gov/careers/explore-careers/intelli... https://www.esd.whs.mil/Portals/54/Documents/DD/issuances/dodi/332508p.pdf https://www.esd.whs.mil/Portals/54/Documents/DD/issuances/do...
- sailfast 1y agoApologies - perhaps I watch too many movies. Yes, I was speaking of intelligence or blackmail material collection that might be the goal of compromising someone's phone, etc.
- burkaman 1y agoYou are missing that facts are not universally known, and it is normal and good for news organizations to provide ongoing coverage of stories their readers might care about. Many people who read this article will have never heard of governments spying on domestic journalists, or Italy doing that, or the type of software used, or the US funding that software, or some combination of these things.
- sailfast 1y agoIt's a good point! There is a good reason for the article. I just don't love the implications of the headline because software being used does not mean it's being used as intended or with the blessing of those countries. This headline could be any number of companies and organizations - including most major tech companies.
- ChrisArchitect 1y agoSource: https://citizenlab.ca/2025/06/first-forensic-confirmation-of-paragons-ios-mercenary-spyware-finds-journalists-targeted/ https://citizenlab.ca/2025/06/first-forensic-confirmation-of...
- coliveira 1y agoJust a small part of the biggest spy network ever invented, which is woven into practically all software and tech infrastructure we use in the West and backed by large corporations with ties to that small country.
- v5v3 1y agoYes. Surprised they allowed a zero click exploit to be exposed for what appears to be low value targets.
- ThinkBeat 1y agoThat means they have a big bin of zero click exploit ready for use. This one was probably getting old so someone finding it wouldn't mean much.
- yosefk 1y ago[flagged]
- resource_waste 1y agoOh look Apple devices were hacked again. Security through obscurity isnt really working out. Their big cash apparently isnt enough. I have sensitive data on my phone that I must carry around, and there is no way I'd ever keep it on an iphone. 'Pegasus' was the moment corporations and governments should have banned iphones for their terrible security.
- chc4 1y agoAre you somehow under the impression that Android devices aren't hacked as well?
- worik 1y agoOf course Android phones are hacked as well But a hack on my Andriod device might, or might not, work on your Android device Not so much iPhones. Some difference between versions, but pretty much a monoculture
- deleted 1y ago[deleted]
- input_sh 1y agoPegasus exploited both iOS and Android, not just iOS.
- pieenjoyer 1y agoClosed source doesn't imply security through obscurity. Any operating system, closed or open, can be vulnerable. iOS is a big, relevant target, and obviously a lack of publicity/quantity of commercial exploits against AOSP and Desktop Linux doesn't necessarily mean good security.
- jmyeet 1y agoThere is now a rich history in outsourcing activities that would otherwise be illegal to other countries where it is legal. For example, the CIA's extreme rendition [1], knowingly sending prisoners to countries to be tortured and/or executed. This is how such countries make themselves useful to American empire. Likewise, restrictions on the NSA spying on American citizens, for example, are bypassed by outsourcing that spying to, say, other Five Eyes countries. Israel's role in this hacking phones of politicians, dissidents and now journalists on the behalf of the US and its allies, including Saudi Arabia [2]. The Israeli company NSO Group was sued by WhatsApp for their use of Pegasus [3], something Israel tried to intervene to block [4]. I honestly don't know how people work on things like Pegasus knowing it's being used to target and kill journalists and politicians. [1]: https://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/stories/rendition701/updates/updates.html https://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/stories/rendition701/upda... [2]: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/17/world/middleeast/israel-saudi-khashoggi-hacking-nso.html https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/17/world/middleeast/israel-s... [3]: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c77n76kzmz4o https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c77n76kzmz4o [4]: https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2024/07/israels-attempt-to-sway-whatsapp-case-casts-doubt-on-its-ability-to-deal-with-nso-spyware-cases/ https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2024/07/israels-attem...
- v5v3 1y ago"I honestly don't know how people work on things like Pegasus knowing it's being used to target and kill journalists and politicians." You can make many people do pretty much anything under orders, and even more by rewarding them. "I was just putting food on the table for my family..." https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milgram_experiment https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milgram_experiment
- jplrssn 1y ago> Ciro Pellegrino, who heads the Naples newsroom of an investigative news outlet called Fanpage.it, received a notice on April 29 that his iPhone had been targeted. Last year, Fanpage secretly infiltrated the youth wing of Meloni’s Brothers of Italy party and filmed some of them making fascist and racist remarks. It's never a good look going after journalists, but this seems especially petty.
- burkaman 1y agoAttending a political party's events and reporting what they say and do is petty?
- mvc 1y ago[flagged]
- Yeul 1y agoPeople talk about Japan but if there is one country that has never distanced itself from their role in WW2 it's Italy. Ofcourse they get away with it because literally nobody has ever taken Italy seriously in centuries.
- 1y ago
- bgwalter 1y agoThanks Cloudflare for blocking apnews.com! Thanks LLM scrapers that ruin the Internet and make that necessary!
- xeromal 1y agoBuzzword Bingo
- deleted 1y ago[deleted]
- tguvot 1y agowaay down, near the end of the article: "Paragon referred questions to a statement it gave to Israeli newspaper Haaretz, in which the company said that it stopped providing spyware to Italy after the government declined its offer to help investigate Cancellato’s case. "
- chaosbolt 1y ago[flagged]
- hersko 1y ago> -The bald eagle that is also the only country in history to have nuked two civilian cities. It was this or invade which would have easily resulted in more casualties. Pretending the US just nuked them when the other option was nothing is childish. > - Its best friend, the country that's commiting a genocide in 2025 and that you cannot criticize. Ongoing wars in 2025 and casualty numbers according to Grok: - Russia-Ukraine War: Estimated 500,000–1,000,000 deaths - Syrian Civil War: ~400,000–600,000 deaths - Ethiopian Civil War: ~300,000–600,000 deaths - Yemeni Civil War: ~233,000–377,000 deaths - Myanmar Civil War: ~150,000–200,000 deaths - Sahel Region Conflicts (post-Libya crisis, jihadist insurgencies in Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso, Nigeria, etc.): ~100,000–200,000 deaths. - Sudan Civil War: ~61,000–100,000 deaths - Israel-Hamas War: ~50,000–70,000 deaths Calling the Israel Hamas war a genocide doesn't hold up. Trying to claim that you can't criticize Israel on the internet is ridiculous.
- myth_drannon 1y agoIsrael-Palestine war stats is really off, because the Palestinian officials also include natural deaths in those stats (8,000 per year in Gaza). So the total is more like 40,000-50,000, and most are combatants.
- tehjoker 1y agoGenocidal comment. It is well known the stats are an undercount due to the genocidal starvation, disease, and deprivation, collapsing buildings on people that are never counted, and the many videos of e.g. Israelis burning children alive in tents. "True death toll from conflict in Gaza is 41% higher than reported, study estimates" https://www.bmj.com/content/388/bmj.r73 https://www.bmj.com/content/388/bmj.r73
- edanm 1y ago
- ethagnawl 1y agoHow does the exploit work, though? The article does some real handwaving around "now the device is yours and now it's not". They don't need to go too deep but isn't anyone reading that far into the article going to be curious?
- input_sh 1y agoYou're not gonna find technical details in an AP article of all places. You will find it in CitizenLab's report: https://citizenlab.ca/2025/06/first-forensic-confirmation-of-paragons-ios-mercenary-spyware-finds-journalists-targeted/ https://citizenlab.ca/2025/06/first-forensic-confirmation-of...
- yb6677 1y agoThere isn’t much technical details there either. They list the servers it connected to and log entry but that’s it. It mentions a CVE number but the apple link is generic and mo details on the CVE database. Has this even been fixed by apple?
- tonyhart7 1y agowe talking about state sponsored actor with zero day vuln here You would not find info anywhere
- phendrenad2 1y agoWhy not?
- Thorrez 1y agoIt's no longer a zero day if Apple already patched it.
- lcnPylGDnU4H9OF 1y agoJust for the sake of being more precise... On the “vulnerability” it could be considered a zero-day because there was a real exploit against it prior to the exploit being reported by security researchers. It could also be considered not a zero-day because the software vendor is aware of the vulnerability such that no other real exploit of it, regardless of it being patched, will occur on the same day that they learn of it. It’s kinda moot that it’s been patched. Even if they somehow failed to patch it since the exploit, it is no longer a zero-day vulnerability. But, to your point, knowing that it has been patched is practically (obviously) the same as knowing that the software vendor is aware of the vulnerability. (Funny enough, they could be aware of it and it still be a zero-day since the definition is how many days have past since the vendor learned of it prior to it being exploited. Though, it would need to be exploited after they learn about it but before they patch it, which is unlikely.)
- jaoane 1y ago[flagged]
- lyu07282 1y ago[flagged]
- LatteLazy 1y agoI feel like anyone serious about doing actual journalism needs to start with a decent Cyber Security 101 course. Does anyone know of one?
- sva_ 1y agoI mean what can you feasibly do against these zero-click exploits? There's only really two things you can do: 1. keep your phone's identifiers secret, as they must target the devices in some way (like phone number/email/whatever) or 2. don't own a phone
- yb6677 1y agoOwn two phones? Phone 1 - with sim and is exploited, no data or apps. Phone 2 - different OS, no sim, uses portable hotspot from phone 1 and has all the apps and data.
- tonyhart7 1y agoin this current world is not possible to leave "no traces" and expect you would not get find out because it literally is its an anomaly having an "no data" especially in this ever digitized world
- haswell 1y agoI'm curious to know how many successfully targeted individuals were using features like Apple's Lockdown Mode.
- pcthrowaway 1y ago> 2. don't own a phone Honestly I don't think this is going to protect you if you are being targeted. We've already seen what can happen with pagers
- specproc 1y agoWell, a group centered its comms on that particular technology but it was quite an esoteric move. Not having a phone is nigh on impossible, minimizing phone use isn't quite as bad as you might think. Mine ran out of battery on Monday and I've not charged it all week. I'm toying with the idea of only using it when I absolutely need to (e.g., for MFA, if I'm out of an evening and likely to need a taxi). Not so much an opsec thing, more that I spend enough time in-front of screens as it is. The parent comment was flippant, but I think in the context of this piece, phone-use minimization isn't necessarily a bad idea.
- _vere 1y agoStuff like this will just keep happening unless a major jurisdiction goes after these digital mercinaries. The fact that we ignore all laws for no reason other than "our agencies really like spying on people" is laughable. Literally crime as a service, sanctioned by most governments. Should not be surprising that such criminal organizations use their tools to spy on people who don't deserve it.
- gtsop 1y agoIgnore all laws?? EU has officially recognized the utility of these criminal agencies. Of course under the all-time-classic umbrella of "legitimate use for law enforcement" which in common means "go ahead and use it freely, if you get caught we'll give you a slap on the wrist"
- eviks 1y agoThere is a higher chance that vendors take OS development more seriously when it comes to security...
- jokoon 1y agoWho cares at this point? If you're a journalist and you don't have basic OPSEC for cyber stuff, there is no point in doing sensitive work. Nobody is really accountable for those kind of things anyway.
- worik 1y agoI care I care a lot
- jokoon 1y agoCyber warfare is an lawless field That's why it's important to take some precautions
- pkkkzip 1y agoThis type of comment I find very peculiar, it attempts to normalize the intimidation and censorship of truths when we know that isn't the consensus nor desired. Overall, very disappointing to come on HN and find any thread critical of this one country results in mass flagging, censorship and hasbara EVERY SINGLE TIME
- gtsop 1y ago> , it attempts to normalize the intimidation and censorship of truths Very muddying statement. The normalization of intimidation and censorship has already happened by those in power, a comment can only acknowledge the reality of it. > when we know that isn't the consensus nor desired. by who? Crearly a lot of very powerful people desire it very very much.
- keybored 1y agoA comment stating “who cares?” evidently seeks to normalize, legitimize, pacify dissent, and breed apathy.
- tptacek 1y agoThis is my irritating reminder that there is a whole marketplace of implant/CNE products, most of which you have never heard of, produced in basically every jurisdiction in the world. It used to be NSO Group that got all the press, now it's Paragon, and I think it's all for the good that the spotlight gets shone on these companies, but do keep in mind that this is not an "Israeli" phenomenon. There are American companies selling tooling that is more effective than "Graphite"; they're just more careful about publicity. Wherever it is you live that you feel is morally superior to America and Israel on commercialized CNE, you're likely to end up surprised.
- slim 1y agohow come each time researchers find a new spyware, it's always an Israeli shop behind it ? maybe because Israel has developed an ecosystem and an industry around spying. I think it's evil to try to deflect the blame from israel given the fact it's currently committing genocide in Palestine
- bawolff 1y agoI imagine most of the time it would be pretty hard to attribute which company and from which country the spyware comes from. I'm always amazed we know the origin of these sorts of things as much as we do.
- tptacek 1y agoBased on what you're saying, I think I know more about this market than you do. I'm comfortable with who does and does not take me seriously. For those people who do: this "Israel" stuff is not useful for understanding what's happening in the world with respect to CNE tools.
- mafuyu 1y agoJust out of curiosity - would you describe companies that are commonly in the spotlight as more mercenary than average?
- dagav 1y ago[flagged]
- pkkkzip 1y agoI do wonder with all the criticisms and faults EU and West points out in other parts of the world, this one country gets a complete pass that overrides and contradicts every single value that they supposedly stand for at the risk of appearing like they have no value or morals. The rest of the world is getting tired of this double standard. It's justified when we do it and it's a crime if others do it. It's no wonder the youth and global opinions have turned sour.
- deleted 1y ago[deleted]
- amarcheschi 1y agoTo give more context copy pasting my comment from a similar thread I would like to add that Paragon disagrees with COPASIR: (article in italian) https://www.fanpage.it/politica/paragon-smentisce-il-copasir https://www.fanpage.it/politica/paragon-smentisce-il-copasir... They offered to give some information about who was surveilled by whom, but not surprisingly the Italian government refused (it was used by 2 secret service agencies in italy). At this point, Paragon stopped giving its access to Italian agencies (spying on journalists is forbidden by Paragon'S tos). COPASIR say they are the ones who stopped the commercial relationships though, so it is clear as water that at least one party isn't telling the truth
- bilbo0s 1y agoCould also be that both are being untruthful. Lincoln let us know a long time ago, there are times when "both may be, but one must be". Personally, I think there may even be times when both parties are being truthful. ie - you're being played by a third party. I'd imagine this is the sort of fallout when things go sideways and there is not the requisite level of trust on both sides to definitively run down root causes. They both may have simply cut each other off. Since there is no definitive way of knowing the other side is being truthful.
- BlueTemplar 1y agohttps://www.abrahamlincolnonline.org/lincoln/speeches/meditat.htm https://www.abrahamlincolnonline.org/lincoln/speeches/medita.... (Is that 3rd party -- God ? xD)
- bilbo0s 1y agoNot normally. But if it makes you feel better, the third party is usually playing God.
- guelo 1y agoThanks for providing us the corporation's propaganda.
- deleted 1y ago
- deleted 1y ago[deleted]
- dr-detroit 1y ago[dead]
- woodpanel 1y agoWhy was it leaked, by whom and why now? That all victims of paragon were notified by whatsApp or Apple is highly unlikely IMO. Or at least less likely than the possibility of Israeli circles or paragon itself being the origin of the leak.
- bdbenton5255 1y ago[flagged]
- udev4096 1y agoI would love to see how they target GrapheneOS. iPhone is easy to break, GrapheneOS is not
- udev4096 1y ago> Graphite allows the operator to covertly access applications, including encrypted messengers like Signal and WhatsApp That's pretty obvious. Signal doesn't protect you against full device compromise. Any app can trivially extract your signal conversations
- herbst 1y ago> Any app can trivially extract your signal conversations There is a security model baked in to the mobile OS that usually does not allow that.
- yetihehe 1y agoYes, and it can be subverted when the mobile OS is compromised.
- yencabulator 1y agoThat doesn't lead to > Any app can trivially extract your signal conversations
- lambertsimnel 1y agoIn that case, can Signal users take advantage of this to export their own messages?
- lcnPylGDnU4H9OF 1y agoYes but one would have to exploit a similar vulnerability as was exploited in this story. Apple would patch it as soon as it became popular because it could be used for an attack like this one.
- jowea 1y agoI don't think that's obvious for non-techies
- botanical 1y agoNorth Korean and Chinese hackers are soundly shunned but for some reason it's always a "company" from a pariah country like Apartheid Israel that are able to sell their software weapons to indiscriminately target any civilian from any country.
- Gud 1y agoIsrael is not a pariah but one of the US closest allies.
- JohnKemeny 1y agoIsrael is both a close U.S. ally and a pariah state in the eyes of much of the international community due to its policies toward Palestinians, creating cognitive dissonance for those who support democratic values yet continue to justify or overlook actions widely seen as violations of human rights. But not for you.
- Gud 1y agoSorry what? I’m not a fan of Israel, but clearly Israel is not a “pariah state” because you and I don’t like them.
- JohnKemeny 1y agoIt's not my claim. BBC and other news outlets are running stories stating that "Israel is becoming s pariah state".
- specproc 1y agoThe Prime Minister has been sanctioned by the International Criminal Court. Even close allies (e.g., the UK and France) are engaged in some serious backside-covering right now on their relationship with Israel. They know how this is going to end and they're now into doing the comms to make themselves look less bad when it happens. I'd say Israel is -- in terms of it's international reputation -- somewhere between where South Africa was in the eighties and Serbia was in the nineties, and deteriorating fast. Definitely on the pariah spectrum, particularly outside of the US.
- buyucu 1y ago[flagged]
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- phendrenad2 1y agoHumans invented computers, which are capable of nearly-perfect security, but we have to make do with barely-working security, because we can't stop spying on each other. Humans were a mistake.
- computerthings 1y ago[dead]
- snickerbockers 1y ago>“We’ve seen first-hand how commercial spyware can be weaponized to target journalists and civil society, and these companies must be held accountable,” a spokesperson for WhatsApp told AP in an email. Is it just me or is this statement written in a way that implies they think spying on people is acceptable just not in this specific circumstance?
- deleted 1y ago[deleted]