WhatsApp has recently accused the Israeli spyware company Paragon Solutions of targeting around 100 journalists and members of civil society in the hacking campaign, as according to a report MentorWhatsApp says the attacks are known as graphite using sophisticated spyware, which is capable of infiltrating equipment without any interaction from the victim-a zero-click attack Technology.

WhatsApp claims that around 90 users including journalists and activists were targeted and potentially compromised. While the messaging platform did not disclose the places of the affected persons, it confirmed that it had reported them of possible violations. WhatsApp also said that it had sent a conflict and desired letter to Paragon and was searching for legal options to justify the company.

Paragon Solutions, which has an office in Virginia, USA, is known for its graphite spyware, a tool equivalent to the notorious Pegasus software developed by the NSO group. Once installed on the device, the graphite provides complete access to the operator, including the ability to read messages sent through encrypted apps such as WhatsApp and signal.

The identity of the attackers is not clear. Like other spyware firms, Paragon sells its software to government customers, but WhatsApp said it could not determine who ordered the alleged attacks. A person close to Paragon claimed that the company has 35 government customers, which are all Democratic nations. The quoted source also said that paragon first avoids trade with countries accused of misuse of spyware, such as Greece, Poland, Hungary, Mexico and India.

The incident comes amid the increasing investigation of the commercial spyware industry. Now Natalia Krepeva, a senior tech legal counsel to Access, said that while paragon has been seen as a better spyware company with allegations of low misuse, WhatsApp revelations otherwise suggests. “This is not just a question of some bad apples – these types of abuses are a feature of the commercial spyware industry,” she said.

WhatsApp announced NSO Group, another Israeli spyware recently follows a legal victory against the manufacturer. In December, a California judge ruled that 1,400 WhatsApp was responsible for hacking users in 2019, violating us the terms of hacking laws and stage service. In 2021, the NSO was added to an American Commerce Department Blacklist for activities considered to be contrary to the US national security interests.

WhatsApp has not revealed how long the target may be in danger, but confirmed that the alleged attacks were disrupted in December. The company is now working to support affected users and strengthen its defense against future violations.