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WhatsApp Update: After Pegasus, there is a threat of Paragon, who is the target now? WhatsApp warned..

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Meta-owned WhatsApp has reported that about 100 journalists and civil society members using its platform were targeted by spyware developed by Paragon Solutions, an Israeli cybersecurity firm. WhatsApp has notified affected users and said with "high confidence" that some devices were compromised by the attacks, The Guardian reported on Friday.

The identity of the entity behind the hack is not yet clear. Paragon Solutions, like other spyware companies, sells its technology to government clients, but WhatsApp has not said which governments or agencies were responsible for this particular attack. Security experts noted that it was a "zero-click" attack, meaning victims did not need to click on anything for their phones to be infected. WhatsApp did not disclose the locations of the individuals targeted.

WhatsApp has sent a legal notice.

Paragon Solutions has been investigated for a $2 million contract with US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). According to Wired, the contract was put on hold to ensure that the Biden administration's rule, which prohibits the use of spyware, is being followed. WhatsApp said it has sent a legal notice to Paragon demanding a stop to the alleged attacks. It also mentioned that the company blocked the spyware in December, although it is still unclear how long users were at risk.

Paragon did not comment on the allegations, but the report quoted a source close to the company as saying that it only cooperates with democratic governments and does not sell to countries that have a history of spyware abuse. Such as Greece, Poland, Hungary, and Mexico.

Paragon's spyware is named Graphite. It is similar to Pegasus, the infamous hacking tool developed by NSO Group. Once installed, Graphite can access all data on a target's phone, including encrypted messages on WhatsApp and Signal. Paragon was founded by former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and was recently sold to US private equity firm AE Industrial Partners for $900 million, although the sale is yet to receive approval from Israeli regulators.

WhatsApp suspects that Paragon's spyware spread through malicious PDF files sent to users in group chats. The company is working with researchers from Citizen Lab at the University of Toronto to investigate the attack. The incident comes amid WhatsApp's ongoing legal battle against NSO Group, in which a US judge recently ruled that NSO was responsible for hacking 1,400 WhatsApp users in 2019 and that it violated US hacking laws and WhatsApp's terms of service.

Disclaimer: This content has been sourced and edited from Dainik Jagran. While we have made modifications for clarity and presentation, the original content belongs to its respective authors and website. We do not claim ownership of the content.