WhatsApp says journalists and civil society members targeted by Israeli spyware

WhatsApp said it had sent Paragon a cease-and-desist letter following the alleged hack

WhatsApp said it had detected an attempt to hack about 90 users of its platform (AFP via Getty Images)

About 90 journalists and other members of civil society using WhatsApp were targeted by Israeli spyware company Paragon Solutions, the company has alleged.

A WhatsApp official said on Friday that the company, owned by Meta, had sent Paragon a cease-and-desist letter following the hack.

In a statement, WhatsApp said the company "will continue to protect people's ability to communicate privately."

Paragon declined to comment.

The WhatsApp official told Reuters it had detected an effort to hack approximately 90 users of its platform.

WhatsApp is owned by Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta (AP)

The official declined to say who, specifically, was targeted or where they were geographically, saying only that targets included an unspecified number of people in civil society and media.

He said WhatsApp had since disrupted the hacking effort and was referring targets to Canadian internet watchdog group Citizen Lab.

The official declined to discuss how it ascertained that Paragon was responsible for the hack. He said law enforcement and industry partners had been informed, but declined to go into detail.

The FBI did not immediately return a message seeking comment.

Citizen Lab researcher John Scott-Railton said the discovery of Paragon spyware targeting WhatsApp users "is a reminder that mercenary spyware continues to proliferate and as it does, so we continue to see familiar patterns of problematic use."