Italy cuts ties with Israeli spyware company after claims of spying on journalists and activists

Italy has terminated a contract with Israeli spyware maker Paragon, a parliamentary document showed on Monday, following allegations that the Italian government used its technology to hack critics' phones.

Paragon did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

Meta's WhatsApp chat service said earlier this year Paragon spyware had targeted scores of users, including a journalist and members of the Mediterranea migrant sea rescue charity critical of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.

The government said in February that seven mobile phone users in Italy had been targeted by the spyware. Rome denied any involvement in illicit activities and said it had asked the National Cybersecurity Agency to look into the affair.

A newly published report from the parliamentary committee on security, COPASIR, showed that Italian intelligence services had initially put on hold and then ended their contract with Paragon following the media outcry.

The report said Italy's domestic and foreign intelligence agencies had activated contracts with Paragon in 2023 and 2024 respectively and used it on a very limited number of people, with permission from a prosecutor.

The foreign intelligence agency used the spyware to search for fugitives, counter illegal immigration, alleged terrorism, organised crime, fuel smuggling and counter-espionage and internal security activities, COPASIR said.

It said members of the Mediterranea charity were spied on "not as human rights activists, but in reference to their activities potentially related to irregular immigration", with permission from the government.

Undersecretary Alfredo Mantovano, Meloni's point man on intelligence matters, authorised the use of Paragon spyware on Mediterranea activists Luca Casarini and Beppe Caccia on September 5, 2024, the report said.

Mantovano was not immediately available for comment.

A Sicilian judge last month ordered six members of Mediterranea, including Casarini and Caccia, to stand trial on accusations of aiding illegal immigration, the first time crew members of a rescue vessel have faced such prosecution. All denied wrongdoing.

The report found no evidence that Francesco Cancellato, a reported target and editor of investigative website Fanpage, had been put under surveillance using Paragon's spyware, as he had alleged to Reuters and other media outlets.