Cancellato is the first target to come forward following the disclosure of a hacking campaign carried out using spyware allegedly made by Paragon Solutions, as WhatsApp claimed on Friday.

WhatsApp has revealed it has disrupted a spyware hacking campaign targeting journalists and prominent members of civil society. The spyware in question belongs to Paragon, a commercial spyware company founded by former Israeli intelligence officers, which Meta-owned WhatsApp has directly implicated in the campaign.

According to the chat service, an Israeli company called Paragon Solutions used group chats and PDFs to target the individuals.

Meta Platforms Inc.’s WhatsApp messenger service said it disrupted a hacking campaign linked to Israeli spyware firm Paragon.

A senior executive at chat service WhatsApp alleged that Israeli spyware company Paragon Solutions attempted to breach the devices of 90 users including journalists, "Reuters" reports. Paragon declined to comment on the report.

WhatsApp uncovered a hacking campaign using Paragon spyware, targeting journalists and civil society members. The attack aimed to breach devices through malicious files shared on the platform

By Raphael Satter WASHINGTON (Reuters) -An official with Meta Platforms' popular WhatsApp chat service said Israeli spyware company Paragon Solutions had targeted scores of its users, including journalists and members of civil society.

Meta-owned WhatsApp disrupted a zero-click spyware campaign by Paragon Solutions, targeting 90 journalists and activists.

A new spyware is on the prowl, already targeting several journalists and members of civil society on WhatsApp.