Meta Confirms Zero-Click WhatsApp Spyware Attack Targeting 90 Journalists, Activists

Feb 01, 2025Ravie LakshmananPrivacy / Surveillance

WhatsApp, which is owned by Meta-owned, reported on Friday that it had disrupted a promotion that used spyware to targeted journalists and members of civil society.

The battle, which targeted around 90 members, involved the use of spyware from an Israeli company known as Paragon Solutions. In December of this year, 2024, the intruders were freed.

In a to The Guardian, the encrypted messaging apps said it has reached out to damaged people, stating it had “high trust” that the customers were targeted and “possibly compromised”. Who is the campaign’s creator and how long it lasted are still unknown.

According to reports, the strike network is zero-click, meaning that the spyware is deployed without user interaction. It’s thought to be related to the submission of a specially created PDF file that was sent to people who were added to WhatsApp group messages.

Additionally, the business revealed that it had sent Paragon a “cease and desist” email and that it was considering other options. This growth marks the first time the business has been linked to instances in which its technology has been mishandled.

Similar to , Paragon is the creator of Graphite surveillance software that government clients can use to fight online threats. In a$ 500 million deal, AE Industrial Partners, a U.S.-based investment firm, purchased it in December.

The firm claims on its bare-bones website that it offers customers “ethically based equipment” to “disrupt intractable threats” as well as” digital and forensic capabilities to identify and analyze digital data.”

In late 2022, it came to light that was used by the U. S. Drug Enforcement Administration ( DEA ) for counternarcotics operations. The Department of Homeland Security was requested by the Center for Democracy and Technology ( CDT ) last year to release details of its$ 2 million contract with Paragon.

Following a landmark ruling in the case against NSO Group for using its infrastructure to distribute the Pegasus malware to 1, 400 equipment in May 2019, a judge in California announced the launch of the plan.

Additionally, Meta’s reporting came at the same time as Zbigniew Ziobro’s imprisonment, who was charged with supporting allegations that he authorized the use of Pegasus spyware to spy on opposition leaders and oversee use of the technology.

Found this post exciting? Follow us on and Twitter to access more unique content we article.

Leave a Comment