"WhatsApp has proactively identified the affected users, logged them out of their accounts, warned them about the privacy risks, and urged them to delete the fake client and install the official app from a trusted source."
"SIO's spyware operates through a different model. The malware, identified in its own code as Spyrtacus, is embedded in fake applications designed to look like legitimate software."
"In early 2025, WhatsApp alerted around 90 users, including journalists and pro-immigration activists, that they had been targeted by Paragon Solutions, a U.S.-Israeli surveillance firm whose flagship product, Graphite, was deployed by Italy's domestic and foreign intelligence services."
WhatsApp notified around 200 users in Italy that they had installed a counterfeit version of its app, which was government spyware. The fake application was created by SIO, a company that develops surveillance technology for law enforcement. WhatsApp logged out the affected users, warned them about privacy risks, and advised them to delete the counterfeit app. This incident follows a previous alert in early 2025 regarding another spyware vendor, Paragon Solutions, which targeted journalists and activists in Italy, leading to a political crisis.
Read at TNW | Apple
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