"The White House has reversed a Biden-era decision to suspend the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)'s purchase of software from commercial spyware maker Paragon Solutions. Israel-based Paragon Solutions' contract with ICE was signed in September of 2024, but quickly placed under review by the Biden administration for noncompliance with the former President's 2023 executive order that barred the US government from purchasing or using commercial spyware."
"Paragon was founded in Israel in 2019 by former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and ex-signals intelligence Unit 8200 commander Ehud Schneorson, billing itself as an ethical alternative to spyware like NSO Group's Pegasus. Instead of full-device takeover, it's reportedly only able to snoop silently with the included ability to decrypt messages from apps like WhatsApp. Paragon software is still able to reportedly be installed covertly without user interaction, though, so its more restrained functionality likely isn't very comforting to targets."
"According to University of Toronto's Citizen Lab, which reported earlier this year that Paragon's flagship spyware Graphite had been used against journalists, activists, and other political targets in Italy, all shares in Paragon's Israeli operations were transferred to a US parent company last December for $500 million. Paragon was acquired by Virginia-based cybersecurity firm Red Lattice, but still operates inside of Israel as well as in the US."
ICE signed a contract with Paragon Solutions in September 2024 that was frozen in October 2024 due to a 2023 executive order barring US government purchases of foreign commercial spyware. Paragon, founded in Israel in 2019 by Ehud Barak and Ehud Schneorson, offers Graphite, spyware capable of covert installation and decrypting messages from apps like WhatsApp. University of Toronto’s Citizen Lab reported Graphite use against journalists, activists, and political targets in Italy. All shares of Paragon's Israeli operations were transferred to a US parent company last December after a $500 million acquisition by Virginia-based Red Lattice, prompting contract reinstatement.
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