Italian journalists targeted by Paragon spy software
Italian journalists union Fnsi and guild OdG have filed a criminal complaint against unknown persons to the State Attorney's Office in Rome demanding an investigation into the case of at least one journalist who was allegedly spied on through Paragon Solutions' military-grade Graphite hacking software, the two organizations said, CE Report quotes ANSA.
"We are dealing with facts that are not only violating the criminal code but the Constitution itself: the press is free", Fnsi secretary general Alessandra Costante said.
Meanwhile Odg president, Carlo Bartoli, said the complaint was "an extraordinary act of which we perceive the gravity, but it wasn't possible to wait longer: if the government does not clarify this point, we can only appeal to the judiciary".
Cabinet Undersecretary Alfredo Mantovano told Lower House Speaker Lorenzo Fontana in a letter that the government has already made public all declassified information over the 'Graphite' military-grade hacking software of Israeli company Paragon Solutions.
The letter said the Paragon case was discussed by Parliament's COPASIR security committee, which oversees Italy's intelligence agencies, and the Minister for Relations with Parliament Luca Ciriani had provided to lawmakers "the only information that could be divulged to the public" during a question time session at the Lower House.
Every other aspect of the case is classified and can only be discussed by the government within COPASIR and not reported directly to parliament, the letter said.
Last week, Ciriani denied reports that Paragon Solutions, which is reported to only work with state entities, had terminated its client relationship with Italy amid a furore over the alleged illegal use of its hacking software to spy on journalists and activists.
Intelligence sources later told ANSA that Italy's intelligence agencies and Paragon Solutions have agreed to suspend the system until a due diligence process carried out by Parliament's COPASIR security committee and the National agency for cybersecurity is completed.
Migrant-rescue NGO Mediterranea Saving Humans founder and operations chief Luca Casarini and the editor-in-chief of online investigative news outlet Fanpage, Francesco Cancellato, were reported to be among the victims in Italy.
OdG president Bartoli said "very few subjects have access" to the software and "therefore in the journalism rule of the five Ws two are missing: the who and why" and "they must come out".
The president of Fnsi Vittorio di Trapani also noted that "we know that at least one journalist was spied on" and that he learned about it "thanks to a communication through WhatsApp, so he wasn't alerted by an authority" but by the chat service.
"We also know that he was spied on through the Paragon system and that the Paragon system is exclusively used by state entities", he noted, adding that either the Italian or a foreign state had been involved although, "in spite of initial denials, the suspension of the contract between Paragon and the Italian government gives us a piece of evidence" and that "we are not aware that any type of authorization was provided by the judiciary on this type of espionage activity".
The Fnsi and Odg also urged all journalists to alert the two organizations if they receive a message that their phones have been targeted so they can be included in the complaint.
