WhatsApp Accuses Israeli Company of Spying on Dozens of Users

A WhatsApp official said on Friday that the Israeli spyware company, Paragon Solutions, targeted dozens of users, including journalists and members of civil society.

The official told Reuters that WhatsApp, owned by Meta, had sent a letter to Paragon following the breach, demanding that they cease such activities.

The company stated in a statement that it “will continue to defend the ability to communicate privately.”

According to the official, the company detected an attempt to hack around 90 users of its platform.

The official refrained from specifying the identity or location of the targets, only noting that the targets included an unspecified number of civil society and media figures.

The official added that WhatsApp “thwarted” the infiltration attempt since then.

The official declined to discuss how WhatsApp confirmed that Paragon was responsible for the breach.

He mentioned that law enforcement and “sector partners” had been informed of the breach, but did not elaborate on the details.