Paragon case, spied also Francesco Gaetano Caltagirone
In December 2024, Israeli spy software Graphite was also found on the smartphone of the entrepreneur, publisher and financier
The Roman entrepreneur, publisher and financier Francesco Gaetano Caltagirone was spied on with the Graphite spy-software, developed by the Israeli Paragon Solutions and used by governments and police forces in several countries, including Italy. It is not known, according to agency reports, who tried to spy on Caltagirone, but the notification that appeared on his phone along with at least seven other people in the country is unmistakable.
The entrepreneur was allegedly informed by Whatsapp on the same day that the journalist Francesco Cancellato, director of Fanpage, and the two founders of the NGO Mediterranea, Luca Casarini and Giuseppe 'Beppe' Caccia, were also informed. According to the reconstruction, in December 2024, the telephone number used by Caltagirone was inserted into a Whatsapp chat with contacts known to him, and a PDF file was shared. Shortly afterwards, the chat disappeared, and the PDF file disappeared with it. A month later, Whatsapp informed the users involved that it had identified and corrected a vulnerability that would have allowed spyware to be inserted without them having to click on any link or attachment.
