Get the latest tech news

US-backed Israeli company's spyware used to target European journalists


New revelations that spyware made by a U.S-backed Israeli company was used against at least three European journalists have raised concerns about abuse of commercial spyware even in democratic countries.

The findings come amid a growing questions about what role the government of Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni may have played in spying on journalists and civil society activists critical of her leadership, and raised new concerns about the potential for abuse of commercial spyware, even in democratic countries. Backed by former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, Paragon was reportedly acquired by AE Industrial Partners, a private investment firm based in Florida, in a December deal worth at least $500 million, pending regulatory approvals. The Citizen Lab’s report today also revealed a third case, of a “prominent European journalist,” who asked to remain anonymous, but is connected to the Italian cluster by forensic evidence unearthed by researchers at the laboratory, which is run out of the Munk School at the University of Toronto.

Get the Android app

Or read this on r/technology

Read more on:

Photo of Spyware

Spyware

Photo of European

European

Photo of Israeli

Israeli

Related news:

News photo

Trump drives European governments to Microsoft alternatives: What Germany, France, Denmark, the Netherlands, Switzerland and Austria are planning

News photo

Fears Over U.S. AI Dominance Boost Business for France’s Mistral: CEO Arthur Mensch says European customers are seeking independence from Silicon Valley, leading it to build a new facility near Paris

News photo

Nvidia CEO Sees Tenfold Boost to Europe’s AI Computing Power