John Scott-Railton on a New Paragon Infection in Italy
Another member of Italian civil society has gone public about being a target of Paragon spyware. Francesco Nicodemo, a prominent Italian communications executive and political advisor, is the fifth confirmed target of an ongoing spyware scandal in Italy.
Citizen Lab first identified the abuse of Paragon’s Graphite spyware against Italian civil society in March 2025, documented in its report “Virtue or Vice.” This was followed by the first forensic confirmation of Paragon’s spyware targeting journalists in “Graphite Caught.”
Citizen Lab senior researcher John Scott-Railton spoke with reporters from the Record and TechCrunch about the implications for the Italian government, saying “none of this looks good for Paragon, or for Italy.”
“While the Italian authorities acknowledged some of the cases, the pile of unexplained Paragon Graphite spyware cases is growing. It’s a bad look for all parties, including Paragon, ” Scott-Railton said. “Whether it’s NSO’s Pegasus or Paragon’s Graphite, the theme of politics and elections getting targeted continues. Mercenary spyware is a clear threat to democracy, and must be treated as such. At this point, we’re a long way from Paragon’s claims that their spyware is somehow ‘abuse proof’.”
Read more in the Record and TechCrunch.
