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A Sweden-based Libyan activist who has been a vocal critic of Italy and its dealings in Libya was alerted by WhatsApp last week that he had been targeted with military-grade spyware, raising new concerns about the possible use of powerful cyberweapons by European governments.
The alleged breach of Husam El Gomati’s mobile phone – as well as the mobile phones of 89 other activists, journalists and members of civil society – was discovered by WhatsApp in late December.
The California-based messaging app, which is owned by Meta, said it was not clear how long El Gomati and other mobile phones were “possibly compromised”. It said it believed the spyware was made by Paragon Solutions, an Israel-based company that was recently taken over by a US private equity company.
Paragon declined to comment. A person close to the company said it had about 35 government clients, which the person described as democratic governments.
In El Gomati’s case, the discovery was made shortly after he said in Facebook posts that he had gained access to documents from Libya about illegal migration networks, their connection to detention centres, and alleged links between militia leaders in Tripoli and Zawia and Italian intelligence officers.
Italy’s support of the Libyan coastguard and militias in Libya to help stop people from crossing the Mediterranean has long been a subject of criticism by activists, who say it has sown chaos in the country.
El Gomati says he is worried for the safety of his confidential sources in Libya. When a phone is successfully penetrated by Paragon’s spyware, which is called Graphite, the user of the spyware has total control of a person’s phone, including being able to read encrypted messages on apps such as Signal and WhatsApp.
“As an activist against corruption in Libya, protecting my sources is of utmost importance. There are individuals risking their lives to expose the deep-rooted corruption in my country and the corruption of the ruling class,” he said. “These matters can mean the difference between life and death.”
He added: “The thought of someone eavesdropping on you all day, reading your messages and having access to pictures of your children is terrifying.”
Like other makers of military-grade spyware, Paragon – which was founded by the former Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak – sells its spyware to government clients for the expressed purpose of targeting possible criminals. The company had reportedly agreed a $2m (£1.6m) contract with US immigration services last year under the Biden administration, but the deal was put on hold and placed under review after questions were raised about whether it complied with a Biden-era executive order limiting the use of spyware by the US government.
El Gomati contacted the Guardian about the alert he had received by WhatsApp just hours after the Guardian published a separate story about an Italian investigative journalist, Francesco Cancellato, who also received an alert from WhatsApp about his phone having possibly been compromised by the same spyware.
Cancellato is the editor-in-chief of Fanpage, an investigative outlet that gained attention last year after it published a report about young fascists within the far-right party of Giorgia Meloni, Italy’s prime minister.
It is not clear what government client was behind the targeting of El Gomati and Cancellato. WhatsApp said the targets it sent alerts to live in more than two dozen countries, including in Europe.
Meloni’s office Meloni did not respond to a request for comment.
More recently, El Gomati said he had been playing an active role in reporting on the case of Osama Najim, also known as Almasri. Najim, who is the chief of Libya’s judicial police, is wanted by the international criminal court (ICC) for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity, as well as alleged rape and murder. He also presides over Mitiga prison, a facility near Tripoli condemned by human rights organisations for the arbitrary detention, torture and abuse of political dissidents, migrants and refugees.
He was freed last month owing to a procedural technicality and flown on an official state aircraft to Tripoli. The ICC demanded an explanation, saying on Wednesday that he had been released from custody and transported back to Libya by Meloni’s government “without prior notice or consultation with the court”.
