Belgian WhatsApp users among targets of Israeli spyware
Belgian WhatsApp users have also been targeted by spyware from Israeli company Paragon Solutions, the Italian government said in a press release on Thursday. The hacking attempt came to light in the international media last week.
Around ninety WhatsApp users worldwide were targeted, including journalists and other members of civil society. WhatsApp discovered the attacks in December, the company told the Guardian last week.
Few details are known about the attack itself. An anonymous employee told Reuters that the hack had been mitigated and that WhatsApp had sent a letter to Paragon Solutions.
Unclear who is behind attacks
WhatsApp is said to have taken steps to prevent a similar hack in the future, but the company is mainly blaming the Israeli spyware company for the attack. Paragon Solutions provides software to infiltrate computers and smartphones, and counts several governments among its clients.
According to WhatsApp, it is unclear which country is behind the attacks. In a press release, the Italian government said it was taking the incident very seriously.
Italy's cyber security agency has been in dialogue with WhatsApp, which has revealed that Belgian phone numbers were also targeted. It is not clear who was targeted in Belgium.
Users across Europe targeted
Users in a number of other European countries, including Italy and the Netherlands, were also targeted. Seven users were affected in Italy. The affected users have been contacted by WhatsApp.
The identities of some are now known, including Italian investigative journalist Francesco Cancellato. Activists Luca Casarini, founder of the aid organisation Mediterranea Saving Humans, and Husam El Gomati, who writes critical reports on the Italian coastguard's support for Libya in the fight against migration, were also targeted.
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