Cyberattack on journalists’ email accounts under investigation by Washington Post

The Washington Post is investigating a cyberattack on email accounts of some of its journalists, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters on Sunday.

There has been a possible unauthorized targeted intrusion affecting a few journalists, the source said. The Wall Street Journal, which first reported the breach, said it was potentially the work of a foreign government.

According to the report, staffers at the Washington Post were told the intrusions compromised journalists' Microsoft accounts and could have granted the intruder access to work emails.

The reporters whose emails were targeted included members of the national security and economic policy teams, including some who write about China, the report added.

Matt Murray, the Washington Post's executive editor, said in an internal memo that the investigation was initiated after the breach was discovered on Thursday, the WSJ reported.

In 2022, News Corp, which publishes the WSJ, was breached by digital intruders. The email accounts and data of an unspecified number of journalists were compromised in that incident.

Paragon spyware at center of Italian surveillance scandal

Just last week, a research group investigating digital threats against civil society reported that Italian journalist Ciro Pellegrino was targeted with spyware developed by the US-owned surveillance firm Paragon.

Pellegrino works at Fanpage, an investigative outlet whose editor-in-chief, Francesco Cancellato, had also received spyware warnings earlier this year.

Fanpage has published critical reporting on Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s government, including a high-profile exposé linking her party’s youth wing to neo-Nazi activity. Amid growing backlash, the Italian government and Paragon ended their partnership.