Apple and WhatsApp have vowed to keep users on alert if their mobile phones are targeted by governments using US hacking software, the US said, as the US sought to oversee the Trump administration.
The two technology giants made their statements in response to questions from the Guardian that both Cyberweatons made – both owned by American investors – aggressively by American investors – aggressively worsen access to the US market.
Pharaoh solutions, which produces a spyware called graphic, already entered the agreement with Trump in September of a $ 2m contract of a $ 2m contract of a $ 2m contract of a $ 2m contract of ice (Immigration and Customs Exformation).
Paragon did not respond to requests for comment.
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Both Pharaoh and NSO Group produce spyware that can hack into any phone without a user knowing. The software can control a phone, allowing the spyware user to read a target individual’s texts, hear their location, and change their location to a listening device or remote camera.
The companies have defended their software, saying their products are meant to be used to fight serious crime, and even thwart possible terror attacks, but both companies’ spyware has also been abused by government clients to hack individuals they want to monitor secretly, from journalists to business leaders to human rights activists.
Over the years, two technology companies – Apple and WhatsApp – have taken a tough stance against the development of Spyware around the world and have been notified of cases in Italy, including cases in Italy, including cases in Italy, Spain, India and Twelve other countries.
A US court in October sided with WhatsApp when, after six years of litigation, it banned NSO from targeting WhatsApp users again.
But the owner of Apple and WhatsApp, Meta, also has a close relationship with the Trump administration, leading to concerns when the Spyware attack was carried out in the US.
In a statement, Apple said:
A spokesperson for WhatsApp said:
Christopher Wray, the former director of the FBI, confirmed that the FBI tested Pegasus in the NSO for possible use, but in the end the participation of the Bureau in the inclusion of Commercial Spyware in its Arsenal. Experts say many legal questions surround whether spyware can be legally used given the laws that monitor Americans.
An aide to Ron Wyden, a Democratic senator and member of the select committee on intelligence, said that these “policies were written in a series of emails since the beginning of the shutdown in October.
Asked if he intends to have the sanctions placed on the NSO by the Biden Administration in 2021 removed, Friedman said in Israel: but we have not discussed it, but we have not discussed it ” The former ambassador added that it “will soon be known” when the NSO intends to lift the sanctions.
“No one is immune” when it comes to mercenary spyware, warns John Scott-rilton of leading experts in Spyning against civilian members worldwide.
“American businesses are not ready to start discovering this kind of threat at home. Neither is anyone else, not lawyers, not politicians, not always citizens,” he said. “The last thing America needs right now is a silent spyware epidemic.”
Paragon first entered into an ice deal in 2024, under the Biden administration. Several people who spoke on condition of anonymity said the small contract flew under the radar of the White House until it Wired reported. The contract then stalled to determine whether the contract met the requirements of an ambitious executive order that had previously Signed by the White House in May 2023 and prohibited the use of Spyware operations that pose risks to National Security or are missed by foreign actors to commit human rights abuses around the world”.
At that time, Paragon was not associated with any surveillance scandals, unlike the NSO Group, whose Pegasus Spyware was used by governments to target civil society in many cases.
But that changed in January 2025, when WhatsApp said it discovered 90 people, including journalists and members of Graphite in Civil.
After Paragon ended its relationship with the Italian government, it suggested in Italy that it violated the terms of service that prohibited Spyware to members of civil society.
Since then, media reports have described how several Italian newspapers, including the Italian Right-wing Polio, and an Italian Right-wing Polibo, and an Italian Right-wing Italian newspaper, and an Italian Right-wing Italian newspaper, each targeted by Spyware Spyware in Italy, each one targeted by Spyware Spyware in 2024.
The government of the current Prime Minister, Giorgia Moneloni, identified the software used against some activists by an Italian agency that has responsibility for other high-profile targets.
“This is the Italian Doubgate,” said Matteo Renzi, Italy’s former prime minister, in an interview.
“This is a tool that can only be used by a government. If the Italian government continues to deny that they are using it against [multiple Italian business executives] And the reporters, then the question is, Who did? ” He said. “I am not the best friend of journalists, but the freedom of the press is a priority of a liberal democracy. For me, it is unacceptable to use this tool against journalists. “
Graphfite’s hopes now rest in the hands of US immigration officials who are worried about some seniors.
“Ice is shredding due process and destroying lives in the rush to lock up children and families who pose no threat to anyone,” Wyden said in a statement to the Guardian. “I’m very concerned about how Spyware ice, facial recognition and other technologies are being used to further trample on the rights of Americans and anyone who puts up with trumpet labels.”
A spokesman for the Department of Homeland Security did not respond to a request for comment.