Undersecretary Alfredo Mantovano has reportedly admitted that Italy’s intelligence services authorised spyware surveillance on NGO members.

Meloni administration pressed to address issue after other people working with migrants also told they were targeted

Italian company SIO, which sells to government customers, is behind an Android spyware campaign called Spyrtacus that spoofed popular apps like WhatsApp, per security researchers.

Four people have so far come forward as victims of the Paragon spyware campaign targeting WhatsApp users, including one journalist and three activists.

Exclusive: Decision comes after it emerged an Italian investigative journalist and two activists targeted by Paragon Solutions spyware

Luca Casarini is most prominent person to come forward since WhatsApp said that 90 people, across two dozen countries, had probably been hacked