A government customer of sanctioned spyware maker Intellexa hacked the phone of a prominent journalist in Angola, according to Amnesty International, the latest case of targeting someone in civil society with powerful phone hacking software. The human rights organization published a new report Tuesday analyzing several hacking attempts against local journalist and press freedom activist Teixeira Cândido, in which he was sent a series of malicious links via WhatsApp during 2024. Cândido eventually clicked on one and his iPhone was hacked with Intellexa's spyware, dubbed Predator, Amnesty found.
Legal experts WIRED spoke with say that the ICE monitoring and documentation apps that Apple has removed from its App Store are clear examples of protected speech under the US Constitution's First Amendment. "These apps are publishing constitutionally protected speech. They're publishing truthful information about matters of public interest that people obtained just by witnessing public events," says David Greene, a civil liberties director at the Electronic Frontier Foundation.
Apple has notified users in France of a spyware campaign targeting their devices, according to the Computer Emergency Response Team of France (CERT-FR). The agency said the alerts were sent out on September 3, 2025, making it the fourth time this year that Apple has notified citizens in the county that at least one of the devices linked to their iCloud accounts may have been compromised as part of highly-targeted attacks.
Catwatchful was an Android-specific spyware that presented itself as a child monitoring app "undetectable" to the user. These monitoring apps are often called "stalkerware" for their propensity to be used for non-consensual surveillance, which is illegal.
"We had nothing to do with this horrible murder." NSO's CEO made this statement following the assassination of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, expressing a denial of involvement.
Italy's decision to sever ties with Paragon spyware reflects concerns over the misuse of surveillance technology against critics and public dissent, highlighting political accountability.
Today's verdict in WhatsApp's case is an important step forward for privacy and security as the first victory against the development and use of illegal spyware that threatens the safety and privacy of everyone.
