WhatsApp has alerted Francesco Cancellato, the director of Fanpage.it, that he was among approximately 90 individuals targeted by a sophisticated hacking campaign. The message indicated that his device might have been compromised by spyware, raising significant concerns about privacy and security. This campaign targeted journalists and civil society members worldwide, exposing their personal and professional data to potential exploitation.
Upon receiving the alarming notification from WhatsApp, Cancellato discovered that his phone—which contained sensitive information like bank passwords and work documents—was compromised. He promptly reached out to authorities to report the intrusion. WhatsApp attributed the campaign to Paragon Solutions, an Israeli company known for developing government-grade spyware. The company’s product, Graphite, is capable of infiltrating encrypted applications such as WhatsApp and Signal, posing a severe threat to digital privacy.
Cancellato chose to speak out publicly, emphasizing his duty as a journalist to report the news. He expressed feelings of violation due to the breach and clarified that the attack targeted not just him personally but his organization, Fanpage. His sentiments reflect broader concerns about privacy and freedom of the press in democratic societies.
“You always think somehow that a journalist might be wiretapped or spied on, but you do it more out of your own paranoia and to exorcise the fact that you may be. When someone tells you it’s true, you tend not to believe it, you always tend to think it’s something else.” – Francesco Cancellato
The breach raises critical questions about the motive behind targeting Cancellato. His phone held a wealth of personal data, from vacation photos to confidential work files, which could be potentially damaging if misused.
“This is the thing, I mean, what did they want from me?” – Francesco Cancellato
“Where did they go? What did they do to me? Once they got into my phone, where there is basically my whole life, my vacations, my friendships, my family, my bank passwords, there is everything — my work stuff,” – Francesco Cancellato
The broader implications of this campaign extend beyond individual privacy breaches. Fanpage had previously conducted investigative reporting on the youth-wing of Italy's far-right ruling party led by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. This context raises questions about potential political motivations behind the hacking.
Cancellato's experience is not isolated. Husam El Gomati, a Libyan activist based in Sweden, also received a notification from WhatsApp indicating he was a target. These incidents underscore a worrying trend where journalists and activists face digital surveillance even in Western democracies.
“It is actually quite strange for a journalist to be spied on in a Western democracy,” – Francesco Cancellato
The hacking campaign has put Paragon Solutions in the spotlight. Despite its reputation as a responsible surveillance technology vendor, its acquisition by American private equity firm AE Industrial Partners in December 2024 adds another layer of complexity to the narrative. However, neither Paragon Solutions nor the Italian government have responded to requests for comments regarding this incident.
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