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.
