Israeli Spyware Hacked 90 WhatsApp Accounts; Many Countries Journalists and Activists Targeted

90 WhatsApp accounts have been targeted by Israeli spyware company Paragon Solutions, mostly of journalists and civil society members. Meta has sent a legal notice to Paragon, saying it is working to protect the privacy of users.

However, Meta has not yet shared the names of the affected users or the full details of the countries. But most of the users attacked by the Israeli spyware company are from Europe. Hackers shared electronic documents containing several spyware with these users without any interaction.

WhatsApp has reported that accounts of users from around the world (two dozen countries) have been targeted by an Israeli spyware company, Paragon Solutions. Meta officials revealed that this new attack comes after earlier reports that mentioned similar hacking incidents by Israeli spyware companies. Meta has also issued a "cease and desist" letter to Paragon Solutions, demanding an immediate stop to their activities.

🚨 WhatsApp Hack Exposes Security Risks

90 users—mainly journalists and civil society members—were targeted by spyware via malicious documents, without any user interaction.

This incident is a stark reminder: Consumer messaging apps aren’t designed for business communications. pic.twitter.com/ggAe0eWFZh

— Salt Communications (@saltcontrol) February 3, 2025

Meta has also claimed that WhatsApp has interrupted the hackers' efforts. However, the company has not disclosed how it has discovered that Paragon has carried out this attack. WhatsApp has informed the US agency about this attack.

In their statement, Meta officials assured users that they are working hard to protect the privacy of their accounts and keep communication on the platform secure. Despite these attacks, Meta has stressed that it will continue its efforts to ensure that users can communicate privately without external interference.

Canada-based Internet watchdog group Citizen Labs has said that Israeli spyware company Paragon targets users by sending reminders etc. Israeli company Paragon has not yet responded in this matter. Earlier also, reports of Israel hacking WhatsApp accounts have come to light. There was a lot of uproar then regarding WhatsApp users being targeted by spyware from the Israeli company Pegasus.