Israeli spyware targeted dozens of journalists in the WhatsApp hack

WhatsApp said in a statement to the British newspaper, The Guardian that it has “high confidence” that 90 journalists and members of civil society were targeted and “possibly compromised”.

It is unclear who directed the cyber-attack, but Paragon’s Graphite spyware is known to be used by government clients.

WhatsApp told the British daily that it issued a “cease and desist” letter to Paragon, notifying the Israeli company that it is weighing potential legal options in response to the hack. Notifications to victims remain ongoing.

Once infected by Graphite, a user’s phone is completely compromised, and the spyware operator can access everything on it, including encrypted messages.

Anonymous experts told The Guardian that the hack was likely a “zero-click” attack, which does not require a user to click on any links to become infected.

WhatsApp said it believes users became infected by a malicious PDF file sent to targets who were added to group chats, saying it has assessed with “confidence” that Paragon was involved in the attack.