Israeli spyware vendor Paragon Solutions has confirmed that it sells its products to the US government and its allies. The company’s executive chairman, John Fleming, affirms that it “licenses its technology to a select group of global democracies — principally, the United States and its allies.”
In his conversation with TechCrunch, Fleming added that the company requires all users to agree to terms and conditions explicitly prohibiting the “illicit targeting of journalists and other civil society figures.” Adding Paragon has a zero-tolerance policy against such targeting and will terminate its relationship with any clients found to be violating its terms.
Fleming’s statement to TechCrunch comes shortly after Meta-owned WhatsApp alleged that Paragon’s Graphite spyware was used in a hacking campaign that targeted nearly 90 journalists and other individuals worldwide. WhatsApp has since also sent a cease-and-desist letter to the company, but Fleming refused to comment.
He also did not respond to specific questions, including those asking for more details on who his company considers a US ally or democracy, whether WhatsApp’s claims were true, or if the company was investigating these allegations. He also didn’t answer whether the company has ever terminated a contract due to a breach of its policy.
Ynetnews reports that Paragon’s U.S.-based owner, AE, is considering its options and will not back down from a fight. That said, with NSO, the creator of the infamous Pegasus spyware, losing a legal battle to Meta, another debacle of this scale could end the Israeli cyber industry, claims an unnamed source as reported by Ynetnews. The report also added that Italy is a Paragon customer.
This legal battle between Meta and Paragon could shake up the industry. However, it goes against Meta CEO Mark Zuckerburg’s efforts to maintain good terms with the incoming Trump administration and other global governments. Should Paragon be defeated in court, it could have severe implications for the spyware industry, leaving a lot of governments and their agencies liable to legal action, provided a link can be shown between the victims and spyware operators.
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