Israeli spyware developer Paragon Solutions has confirmed its relationship with the U.S. government after a major security incident involving WhatsApp users worldwide.
This acknowledgement adds a new dimension to last week’s revelation that Paragon’s spyware had targeted around 90 WhatsApp users, including journalists and civil society members.
According to Paragon’s executive chairman, John Fleming, in a statement to TechCrunch, “Paragon licenses its technology to a select group of global democracies — principally, the United States and its allies.”
The targeted WhatsApp attack, which employed a sophisticated “zero-click” infection method through malicious PDF files in group chats, has already affected prominent figures. Italian journalist Francesco Cancellato and Libyan activist Husam El Gomati have publicly identified themselves as victims, raising concerns about the potential misuse of surveillance technology.
Fleming also said that Paragon “requires that all users agree to terms and conditions that explicitly prohibit the illicit targeting of journalists and other civil society figures. We have a zero-tolerance policy against such targeting and will terminate our relationship with any customer that violates our terms of service.”
While Paragon maintains a stated “zero-tolerance policy” against targeting journalists and civil society members, the company has avoided addressing specific questions about its investigation into WhatsApp’s allegations.
WhatsApp continues to pursue legal action, having served Paragon with a cease-and-desist letter while working with security researchers at Citizen Lab to investigate the breach.
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