Australian government agencies could be customers of military-grade spyware from Israeli firm Paragon Solutions, a new report suggests.
In January, Meta revealed more than 90 people, including journalists, had their WhatsApp compromised by the software, although it is unknown if any Australians were targeted.
In a report published by the Citizen Lab on Wednesday, the group identified two IP addresses located in Australia among countries where the company’s Graphite spyware tool was suspected to have been used. Citizen Lab had received a tip which they believe allowed Paragon’s server infrastructure to be mapped.
The software can provide full access to the instant messaging apps on a user’s device. The service is only sold to governments around the world. It is not sold to private enterprises.
Neither of the Australian domains listed in the report show any records of having been owned before, according to a who-is domain search conducted on the two sites listed.
The domains could have been used by any federal or state agency. Guardian Australia has confirmed that the Department of Home Affairs and Australian Signals Directorate have no links to Paragon Solutions.
When asked if Paragon had Australian customers, or if the software had been used to target Australians, the company did not directly respond to the question.
“Paragon’s mission is to support national security and law enforcement agencies, in full accordance with applicable laws and regulations, in their fight against serious crime and terrorism while minimising the impact on privacy,” the company’s executive chairman, John Fleming, said.
“Paragon maintains a robust due diligence framework to vet customers, ensuring they operate within democratic systems and that their law enforcement and intelligence agencies have the proper legal framework to use our tools. We have a zero-tolerance policy for customers who violate our terms of service, and a proven track record of enforcing those rules.”
If the Australian government is a customer there is no suggestion by Citizen Lab in their report that they have misused it or violated Paragon’s terms of service.
The Citizen Lab report came after WhatsApp owner Meta announced in January it had “high confidence” that 90 journalists and other members of civil society had been compromised on the messaging platform, after being targeted by spyware owned by Paragon Solutions.
WhatsApp had sent Paragon a cease and desist letter and said it was exploring its legal options. The company alerted those who had been targeted at the time.
When asked whether Australians were targeted, Meta declined to comment further.
An Italian investigative journalist, Francesco Cancellato, who is known for exposing young fascists within prime minister Giorgia Meloni’s far-right party, came forward after receiving a notification from WhatsApp about the attack.
Paragon Solutions terminated its contract with Italy after the revelations. Meloni’s office denied that domestic intelligence services or the government were behind the alleged breaches against the journalist and activists.
Citizen Lab, based at the University of Toronto, are specialists at researching cyber and surveillance techniques.
