Italian businessman’s phone reportedly targeted with Paragon spyware

A prominent Italian businessman was targeted with Paragon spyware, according to local news reports.

On Thursday, Italian online investigative website IrpiMedia and newspaper La Stampa reported that Francesco Gaetano Caltagirone was among around 90 people who received a notification from WhatsApp in January, alerting him that he had been targeted with spyware made by Paragon Solutions. 

It’s not immediately clear for what reason Caltagirone was targeted, and a spokesperson for his holding company, Caltagirone SpA, did not respond to a request for comment.

Caltagirone’s namesake holding company owns several firms across different industries, including construction, real estate, finance, and publishing, which includes Italian newspaper Il Messaggero. 

Caltagirone becomes the first businessman to be added to the list of Paragon victims in Italy. So far, the other victims include journalists Francesco Cancellato and Ciro Pellegrino, who work for online news site Fanpage; and immigration activists Luca Casarini and Giuseppe Caccia, who work for Mediterranea Saving Humans, an Italian non-government organization that helps rescue immigrants in the Mediterranean sea. 

The alleged targeting of Caltagirone now widens the ongoing Paragon spyware scandal in Italy to victims beyond journalists and activists. Following the reports of the Fanpage journalists being targeted, Paragon cut ties with the Italian government, whose intelligence agencies were its customers. 

Paragon, which has long claimed to be an “ethical” spyware maker, is headquartered in Israel, and was bought by U.S. private equity giant AE Industrial in December 2024. As part of the deal, Paragon was reportedly going to merge with cybersecurity firm REDLattice. 

When TechCrunch reached out to Paragon for comment in September regarding the company’s contract with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, a company spokesperson referred questions to REDLattice’s vice president of marketing Jennifer Iras, indicating that the merger may have been finalized.

Paragon and WhatsApp did not respond to a request for comment.