Deputy Premier and Transport Minister Matteo Salvini said on Friday that the alleged use of Paragon Solutions’ ‘Graphite’ military-grade hacking software to spy on activists and journalists, including in Italy, could be due to internal tensions within the nation’s intelligence services. However, he emphasised that this was not his area of expertise.
“I didn’t know this software existed, I don’t know who used it or for what reasons,” Salvini said during the presentation of his League party’s new proposal for a ‘rottamazione’ scheme to help resolve tax disputes.
“Clarification is certainly essential in what appears to be a settling of scores within the intelligence services, which play a fundamental role in the country’s stability, security, and democracy. There are reports of secret agents attacking other secret agents instead of defending the national interest. This is certainly worrying.”
Salvini distanced himself from speculation about the hacking software. “I’ll avoid saying things I don’t know about the spyware or Paragon,” he said. “I’ll be in Israel on Monday, and I’ll ask them something about it.”
NGO Head to file complaint
Meanwhile, Luca Casarini, mission chief and founder of the sea-rescue NGO Mediterranea Saving Humans, said he will file a criminal complaint with prosecutors in Palermo on Monday after being notified that he was among those targeted.
On Wednesday, Mediterranea Saving Humans said it had received official communication from Meta, which manages WhatsApp, informing Casarini that his phone “had been violated in a high-level spyware operation, through the use of a software described as among the most sophisticated in the world.”
Sources said at least three, possibly four, people at Mediterranea were informed that their devices had been compromised.
Among the other targets in Italy was Francesco Cancellato, editor-in-chief of the online investigative news outlet Fanpage.
In an exclusive report on Thursday, The Guardian claimed that Paragon Solutions had terminated its client relationship with Italy, citing a source familiar with the matter.
