If the journalist is targeted by spy software, it is in particular to identify his sources, according to an Amnesty International report.
Only here, the journalist would have been targeted himself. His hacking would have been hacked by a strange spy software, and not just any: graphite. Known since 2019 he is able to bypass messaging protections like WhatsApp in particular.
This software is marketed by Paragon, an Israeli merchant company of spy software, initially intended for the authorities. On January 31, 2025, the Meta group's messaging had already announced that it was studying its legal options, since no less than 90 people had been targeted by the operation, including journalists.
“I thought I lived in a democratic country”
As of December, Francesco Cancellato receives a message the warning that spy software had infiltrated its device. He asked Citizen Lab confirmation, a research group on digital rights specializing in spy software surveys. This news had deeply shocked her, and forced her to question himself as to her security and integrity in her own country.
“” “It is one thing to speculate on being watched, it is another when someone calls you to tell you that you are under surveillance. […] I thought – wrongly, with hindsight – that I lived in a democratic country where journalists were not spied on“Reports Ha'aretz, a critical Israeli media from the current government.
Today, Francesco Cancellato thinks that his government has initiated this attack on him. Even if nothing proves this accusation, a Guardian investigation comes to support it. It stipulates that a person close to Paragon A person revealed the link between Israeli society and some “35 democratic governments“.
How to protect yourself against this type of software? (Even if you are not a journalist)
Seven other people in Italy were also the victims of this attack, including the director of a migrant aid NGO and a Sudanese refugee. For its part, the Italian government has denied any involvement in this hacking.
Spy software, or Spyware, is a “software intended to collect and transmit to third parties, without the user's knowledge, data concerning him or information relating to the system he uses ”, According to a definition of the government's site.
According to an article by Amnesty International, to protect yourself, you must be wary of suspicious links, activate the high security mode “isolation” on its Apple devices or use a virtual private network.
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