WhatsApp announced that it has disrupted a major hacking campaign that targeted approximately 90 people. Among them were journalists and civil society activists. This was stated by the official spokesperson for WhatsApp to TechCrunch. The spokesperson confirmed that the hacking campaign is linked to the Israeli company Paragon, which specializes in spyware. It is worth noting that the Israeli company is under the acquisition of an American investment firm known as AE Industrial. Here are all the details of the incident in the following paragraphs, God willing.
Israeli spy company launches hacking campaign on WhatsApp platform
WhatsApp spokesperson Zaid Al-Sawah said the platform has been in direct contact with some of the individuals it believes were affected by the attack. He added that the attack is yet another example of why spyware companies should be held accountable for such illegal actions. He reiterated that WhatsApp has disrupted the hacking campaign and will continue to do so. Protect the rights of its users In communicating privately and 100% securely. WhatsApp also explained that the hackers who carried out the hacking campaign used malicious PDF files sent through WhatsApp groups to hack the targeted devices. The most important step taken by WhatsApp to disrupt the hacking campaign was to release a security update to prevent this attack.
Legal action against the Israeli company
John Scott-Railton, a researcher at Citizen Lab, which has been investigating spyware companies for years, said his team spotted the same hacking campaign and is continuing to investigate. WhatsApp confirmed the hacking campaign was carried out in December and sent a legal letter to Paragon to stop its activities.
This is the first disclosure of its kind linking Paragon to a hacking campaign targeting journalists and activists. Since its founding in 2019, the company has been careful to stay out of the spotlight, avoiding the scandals that have hit other companies like Intellexa and NSO Group, which have been sanctioned by the US government. Last September, Paragon signed a contract with the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) through its US subsidiary, according to Wired. The New Yorker, citing a source inside the company, reported that the contract was concluded after an audit showed that Paragon had controls in place to prevent its foreign clients from targeting US residents. So far, the identities of the people targeted by the spying campaign that WhatsApp disrupted have not been determined. Investigations are ongoing to uncover more details.
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