(ANSA) – ROME, FEB 19 – Migrant-rescue NGO Mediterranea Saving Humans said on Wednesday that its founder and mission chief Luca Casarini had been spied on by a yet-unidentified entity since February 2024, after an analysis conducted by The Citizen Lab, a research team from the University of Toronto Earlier this month, the NGO’s legal team, represented by attorneys Fabio Lanfranca and Serena Romano said they had filed a legal complaint in Palermo asking authorities to investigate who allegedly ordered to spy on the phone of the organization’s founder Luca Casarini through the suspected use of Paragon Solutions’ ‘Graphite’ military-grade hacking software.
“In February 2024, many months before the identification of warm Graphite, a yet unidentified entity operated a ‘sophisticated’ software attack, attempting to force the accounts of Luca Casarini”, said the NGO on Wednesday, discussing the espionage case concerning Casarini.
Casarini says he has been notified that he was among those targeted by Paragon Solutions’ ‘Graphite’ military-grade hacking software to spy on scores of activists and journalists in many countries, including Italy.
“The presence of Graphite, detected on the victim’s phone since November 2024 and communicated to him on January 31 2025 by the company Meta, leaves no doubt on the fact that only government agencies could have used such technology”, stressed the NGO.
According to Citizen Lab, the type of attack waged in February 2024, “must be taken very seriously and generally means that a government is monitoring you and wants to also extend its control over the people close to you”.
Last week, the government denied reports that Paragon Solutions, which allegedly only works with state entities, had terminated its client relationship with Italy amid a furore over the alleged illegal use of its hacking software.
Casarini and the editor-in-chief of online investigative news outlet Fanpage, Francesco Cancellato, were reported to be among the victims in Italy. (ANSA).
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“In February 2024, many months before the identification of warm Graphite, a yet unidentified entity operated a ‘sophisticated’ software attack, attempting to force the accounts of Luca Casarini”, said the NGO on Wednesday, discussing the espionage case concerning Casarini.
Casarini says he has been notified that he was among those targeted by Paragon Solutions’ ‘Graphite’ military-grade hacking software to spy on scores of activists and journalists in many countries, including Italy.
“The presence of Graphite, detected on the victim’s phone since November 2024 and communicated to him on January 31 2025 by the company Meta, leaves no doubt on the fact that only government agencies could have used such technology”, stressed the NGO.
According to Citizen Lab, the type of attack waged in February 2024, “must be taken very seriously and generally means that a government is monitoring you and wants to also extend its control over the people close to you”.
Last week, the government denied reports that Paragon Solutions, which allegedly only works with state entities, had terminated its client relationship with Italy amid a furore over the alleged illegal use of its hacking software.
Casarini and the editor-in-chief of online investigative news outlet Fanpage, Francesco Cancellato, were reported to be among the victims in Italy. (ANSA).
Read article…
