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.
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!
Fuck all those spying countries. But yea still I believe in the west you get in trouble for acting, not just speaking
This is a cool way to protect a belief, narrowing the scope so that the refuting data do not apply anymore. Perhaps I can write a fucking essay about it, but do you have data to support this narrowing move? There is like a ton of data that the West has been invasively spying of possible threats to the status quo (from Cointelpro to undercover UK cops like recently), not just people “acting on it”. Furthermore, actions can fall under protected free speech as well, like putting up a poster, demonstrating, and protesting. So your proposal is inherently undemocratic if you roll back freedom to only protect oral expression, quite similar to a “Don’t ask don’t tell” attitude towards gay people. What you just said is simply counter-factual. Blanket surveillance is a staple of Western societies in the 21st century, and it blows my mind that there are still people oblivious to what is more or less spelled out clearly in the Patriot Act and all laws modeled after it across the globe.
well said, i wish eurolibs would get this through their head, but i’m wishing for too much
Sure, any censorship, spying and oppression is bad. I’m just saying one goes harder than the other, but I’m not denying that it sucks and that it clearly exists. I’m well aware of the patriot act and that speaking can endanger you. I just have this feeling like you get persecuted for speaking against the government in countries like China, whereas you need to be a strong figure to have the same fate in other countries. Anyways, it sucks for all countries that have this.
I have no data and this is just a feeling.
Democracy and freedom of speech, freedom to protest, freedom in general is in danger
it only enabled its operators access to encrypted communications…
what the heck? isnt this much worse than simple microphone access?
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.
“Only”
“only”
"We only broke into your house and stole your shit, we didn’t stab you in your sleep. You’re welcome. "
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.
I think it means in the encrypted state. Still, bad.
Why does this not surprise me??
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!
this is not how Italy works…
and who are you that you know this first hand? in italy? and even then you dont know as well as we do about the situation on the ground in south tyrol.
it seems I know it better than you though.
there are also journalists between the people who were spied.
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Are Italians discriminatory toward South-Tyroleans? Do they consider them Austrian and not Italian or something? Don’t know the lore.
There are Italians in South Tyrol, mostly in Meran and Bozen, which were given property and tax cuts by Mussolini to coloninse the Land. Many South Tyroleans were killed and their property stolen. The Italians still vote far right parties even after 80 years.
In Bozen you can still hear many say:“Speak italian, you are in Italy and South Tyrol is Italy.”
which de jure its true, de facto not.
actually it’s the opposite, or at least some of them don’t consider themselves Italians.
It kinda depends on how right wing you are afaik. There are German south tyroleans and Italian south tyroleans. I think the Italians were traditionally more left wing afaik. Tyroleans in general are weird as fuck and think they’re gods gift to humanity they will be dicks to other Austrians. There is is a tyrolean saying that if you’re not tyrolean you’re not human. Anyways Andreas Hofer is the man and reject vaccinations because they’re trying to infuse you with Bavarian ethics
If any one is tyrolean correct me if I’m wrong please
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.
The original cell phones were unencrypted and anyone nearby with a receiver could listen in on your call, no?
Thus no illusion of privacy.
There was definitely an illusion.
At the time there indeed was. Similar to how sms is perceived today. But I think that anyone going back to older tech is going to be less ignorant about this today than someone adopting current technology, because hindsight is 20-20. We know the old stuff was insecure. But today’s tech is just tomorrow’s insecure tech.
