this post was submitted on 05 Jun 2025
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An Italian parliamentary committee has confirmed that the government used the Israeli-made spyware Graphite, developed by the offensive cyber company Paragon, to hack the smartphones of several activists working with migrants.

The committee confirmed that Paragon provided Graphite to two Italian agencies, including the country's external intelligence service, starting in 2023. The version of Graphite provided did not include the ability to activate the phone's microphone or camera, the report said. Instead, it only enabled its operators access to encrypted communications on the hacked devices.

The report also confirmed that Graphite exploited a vulnerability in WhatsApp that Meta identified and patched in December 2024, one month before the spyware's activity was publicly disclosed. The vulnerability's discovery also caused "panic" at Israel's military intelligence Unit 8200, according to the recent Israeli television report.

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[–] spv@lemmy.spv.sh 1 points 3 days ago

is this the part where i'm supposed to feign surprise? oh, gee golly heavens! i can't believe this!

[–] HugeNerd@lemmy.ca 3 points 6 days ago

In other words, our good democratic ally in the Middle East is doing good things.

[–] HiddenLayer555@lemmy.ml 86 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (37 children)

Say the line Bart!

sigh, "Unlike insert socialist country here, the West has freedom of speech and the right to express your opinions without the secret police coming after you."

YAYYYYYYY!

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[–] PoisonedPrisonPanda@discuss.tchncs.de 42 points 1 week ago (5 children)

it only enabled its operators access to encrypted communications...

what the heck? isnt this much worse than simple microphone access?

[–] CatsGoMOW@lemmy.world 27 points 1 week ago (1 children)
[–] MajorMajormajormajor@lemmy.ca 21 points 1 week ago

"We only broke into your house and stole your shit, we didn't stab you in your sleep. You're welcome. "

[–] jagged_circle@feddit.nl 17 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

Reminds me of when the NSA was spying on Yahoo Video calls so they could do their early facial recognition training.

Since it was a platform mostly used for video sex, The NSA literally made a public statement saying they had a system to blur genitals and that they were "only" training facial recognition data.

My mind was fucking blown. Who cares if you film my dick? That doesn't let you identity me from the MacDonald's cameras you hacked into. The face data is what we were worried about.

[–] atlien51@lemm.ee 8 points 1 week ago
[–] interdimensionalmeme@lemmy.ml 8 points 1 week ago

They are also dirty grubby disgusting liars. They can turn on the microphone while it is off. While the whole phone is "off" which it never really is. That's why you can't buy a phone without a removavle battery.

[–] catloaf@lemm.ee 6 points 1 week ago

I think it means in the encrypted state. Still, bad.

[–] lemmyman210@sh.itjust.works 16 points 1 week ago

Why does this not surprise me??

[–] Goten@piefed.social 8 points 1 week ago (11 children)

They hack Italian (i assume they are italian citizens) working with migrants. If real Italians arent safe from the Spying State, just imagine how safe the Data of South-Tyroleans is, italians northest province!

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[–] msprout@beehaw.org 6 points 1 week ago (1 children)

This software is a fucking scourge on the world. We need to switch back to the original cell phones where only one person can use the tower at a time.

[–] HiddenLayer555@lemmy.ml 14 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (3 children)

The original cell phones were unencrypted and anyone nearby with a receiver could listen in on your call, no?

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