Israeli spyware maker Paragon has been making headlines for a long time. And we can now confirm thanks to a new tech lab report which leading global client markets they cater to.
Topping the list include the likes of Australia, Singapore, Cyprus, Canada, Denmark, and Israel. The news was confirmed recently by the leading digital security lab, Citizen Lab.
A group of leading academics and security experts from the University of Toronto explained the spyware industry’s complexity and Paragon’s long-standing market influence. The company first began as a surveillance startup but now has clients all over the world where governments deploy its services.
Towards the end of January, we shared how WhatsApp alerted nearly 90 different users whom it felt were common targets for Paragon spyware today. This prompted a major scandal in places like Italy where many of these targets are living today.
Paragon has long walked a fine line, striving to set itself apart from rivals like NSO Group — whose spyware has landed in hot water across several nations — by touting itself as a more conscientious player. Back in 2021, a high-ranking Paragon insider confided to a media outlet that iron-fisted or undemocratic governments would never make the cut as its clients.
After the reveal in January, the head of Paragon came out to speak more about how it caters tech to several global democratic nations, mostly in the US and its allies. Starting from such tips, Citizen Lab says it was able to map out which nations are a part of the list of clients by linking IP addresses hosted at various telecom organizations. Sources shared how strongly they feel about Paragon clients due to the initials found on certificates. These appear to match the names of nations that the servers are commonly found in.
The authors of the study noted several different codenames that hinted at potential clients of the government including one related to Canada’s Ontario Province police department. Paragon was reached out for comments on the matter and they refuted the claims of the report.
The spyware maker says that the Citizens Report is filed with inaccuracies and therefore shouldn’t be taken as a reliable source for information. They feel the nature of the information provided to them is so limited that it cannot be deemed true without substantial evidence.
Image: DIW-Aigen
Read next: EU Charges Google and Apple For Antitrust Behavior Despite Trump’s Tariff Warning
Topping the list include the likes of Australia, Singapore, Cyprus, Canada, Denmark, and Israel. The news was confirmed recently by the leading digital security lab, Citizen Lab.
A group of leading academics and security experts from the University of Toronto explained the spyware industry’s complexity and Paragon’s long-standing market influence. The company first began as a surveillance startup but now has clients all over the world where governments deploy its services.
Towards the end of January, we shared how WhatsApp alerted nearly 90 different users whom it felt were common targets for Paragon spyware today. This prompted a major scandal in places like Italy where many of these targets are living today.
Paragon has long walked a fine line, striving to set itself apart from rivals like NSO Group — whose spyware has landed in hot water across several nations — by touting itself as a more conscientious player. Back in 2021, a high-ranking Paragon insider confided to a media outlet that iron-fisted or undemocratic governments would never make the cut as its clients.
After the reveal in January, the head of Paragon came out to speak more about how it caters tech to several global democratic nations, mostly in the US and its allies. Starting from such tips, Citizen Lab says it was able to map out which nations are a part of the list of clients by linking IP addresses hosted at various telecom organizations. Sources shared how strongly they feel about Paragon clients due to the initials found on certificates. These appear to match the names of nations that the servers are commonly found in.
The authors of the study noted several different codenames that hinted at potential clients of the government including one related to Canada’s Ontario Province police department. Paragon was reached out for comments on the matter and they refuted the claims of the report.
The spyware maker says that the Citizens Report is filed with inaccuracies and therefore shouldn’t be taken as a reliable source for information. They feel the nature of the information provided to them is so limited that it cannot be deemed true without substantial evidence.
Read next: EU Charges Google and Apple For Antitrust Behavior Despite Trump’s Tariff Warning
