WhatsApp says Italian surveillance company tricked around 200 users into downloading spyware

By Raphael Satter

WASHINGTON, April 1 (Reuters) – Messaging service WhatsApp said an Italian surveillance company tricked some 200 users into downloading a bogus version of its popular app that was rigged to spy on its victims.

In a statement, the Meta Platforms-owned service said the campaign was carried out by ASIGINT, a subsidiary of northern Italy-based SIO, whose website boasts of “high-performance, field-proven cyber intelligence solutions and technology.”

WhatsApp said the campaign was “highly targeted” and relied on deception to get victims to install “malicious software that impersonated WhatsApp.” It did not identify the victims beyond saying they were “primarily” in Italy.

SIO, which says on its website that it partners with “Law Enforcement Agencies, Government Organizations, Police and Intelligence Agencies,” did not immediately return a message seeking comment. Italy’s interior ministry referred questions to police, who did not immediately return a message.

This is the second time in 15 months that Meta has publicly disrupted spyware activity in Italy, which is still dealing with the fallout from the exposure in early 2025 of a surveillance operation carried out using spyware from the U.S.-owned firm Paragon. Italy and Paragon have since parted ways. 

(Reporting by Raphael Satter, Additional reporting by Alvise Armellini in Rome, Editing by Chris Reese)