In a recent report, Citizen Lab claimed Australian agencies were potential customers of the Graphite spyware tool from Paragon Solutions. The report found two IP addresses located in Australia, among other countries where the Israel-based company’s Graphite spyware tools were suspected to be used.
Citizen Lab speculated that the software provides complete access to messaging apps on a user’s device, and it is only sold to government agencies globally. The report is based on a tip the Canadian-based research agency received, which allows Paragon’s server infrastructure to be mapped. The report states
‘Based on a tip from a collaborator, we mapped out server infrastructure that we attribute to Paragon’s Graphite spyware tool. We identified a subset of suspected Paragon deployments, including in Australia, Canada, Cyprus, Denmark, Israel, and Singapore.’
According to Guardian Australia, the Department of Home Affairs and Australian Signals Directorate denied any link to Paragon Solutions. Similarly, Paragon Solutions also gave a diplomatic answer to this query. The Executive Chairman of Paragon Solutions, John Fleming stated
“Paragon’s mission is to support national security and law enforcement agencies, in full accordance with applicable laws and regulations, in their fight against serious crime and terrorism while minimising the impact on privacy,”
While commenting on the zero-tolerance policy of the company, the Executive Chairman further stated
“Paragon maintains a robust due diligence framework to vet customers, ensuring they operate within democratic systems and that their law enforcement and intelligence agencies have the proper legal framework to use our tools. We have a zero-tolerance policy for customers who violate our terms of service, and a proven track record of enforcing those rules.”
This report came after Meta’s controversial announcement in January, according to which 90 journalists and other civil society members had been compromised on WhatsApp after being targeted by Paragon Solutions spyware. However, the social media platform denied commenting on whether any of the targeted people were Australian.
Paragon Solution is an Israeli spyware company established in 2019. The company claims to safeguard against spyware abuses by government agencies. Though Citizen Lab’s report falsifies these claims, no victims have surfaced yet.
