A recent report by The Citizen Lab reveals that Paragon Solutions' spyware, Graphite, has been linked to the surveillance activities of several governments, including Australia, Canada, and Israel. This spyware is capable of extracting sensitive data from messaging apps. Following recent attacks on journalists and civil society members, which were thwarted in late 2024, WhatsApp has emphasized the need for accountability in the spyware industry. Notably, Graphite exploits a zero-day vulnerability in PDF files shared within WhatsApp groups to infiltrate target devices across multiple countries.
The governments of Australia, Canada, Cyprus, Denmark, Israel, and Singapore are likely customers of spyware developed by Israeli company Paragon Solutions, according to a new report from The Citizen Lab.
Targets of these attacks included individuals spread across over two dozen countries, including several in Europe such as Belgium, Greece, Latvia, Lithuania, Austria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, and Sweden.
In these attacks, targets were added to a WhatsApp group, and then sent a PDF document, which is subsequently parsed automatically to trigger the now-patched zero-day vulnerability and load the Graphite spyware.
This is the latest example of why spyware companies must be held accountable for their unlawful actions, a WhatsApp spokesperson told The Hacker News at that time.
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