According to TechCrunch, Francesco Nicodemo, a political consultant who works with left-wing politicians in Italy’s Democratic Party, has revealed he was targeted with Paragon spyware. He received a WhatsApp notification about the hacking attempt back in January but chose to remain silent for 10 months to avoid being used for “political propaganda.” The case was first reported by online news site Fanpage, which has been investigating the spyware scandal. An Italian parliamentary committee confirmed in June that some victims were targeted by Italian intelligence agencies under right-wing Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. Paragon cut ties with its Italian government customers back in February following initial revelations.
Spyware scandal widens
This is getting messy. Nicodemo’s case shows the spyware net in Italy keeps expanding beyond what anyone initially suspected. We’re not just talking about journalists or activists anymore – now it’s political consultants who work with opposition parties. And here’s the thing: he was apparently targeted for nearly a year before speaking out. That’s a long time to be under surveillance when you’re just doing political consulting work.
John Scott-Railton from The Citizen Lab put it perfectly – none of this looks good for Paragon or Italy. The company could provide clarity but chooses not to. Meanwhile, the Italian government’s explanations have been, well, selective. They confirmed some targets were legitimate but left others completely unexplained. It’s that lack of transparency that makes everyone wonder what else we don’t know.
Political dimensions
Let’s be real – the political angle here is impossible to ignore. Nicodemo works with the center-left Democratic Party, while the intelligence agencies doing the spying report to a right-wing government. That timing and alignment raises obvious questions. Was this about national security? Or was it about political advantage?
And consider this: Fanpage’s reporting shows they’ve been digging into the youth wing of Meloni’s party. Their director also received spyware notifications, but the parliamentary committee conveniently didn’t investigate his case. See a pattern here?
Corporate accountability
Paragon’s response has been textbook damage control. Cut ties with problematic customers after you get caught, then go radio silent. Their parent company and marketing VP didn’t even bother responding to TechCrunch’s questions. That’s basically the spyware industry playbook – sell powerful tools, claim they’re only for catching bad guys, then act surprised when they’re used against political opponents and journalists.
But here’s what really gets me: these companies operate in this shadowy space where they can claim they don’t control how customers use their products. Yet they absolutely know who’s buying and could implement oversight if they wanted to. They just don’t want to.
Broader implications
This case should worry anyone who cares about democratic processes. When political consultants working with opposition parties become spyware targets, we’ve crossed a dangerous line. It’s not about crime or terrorism anymore – it’s about political surveillance pure and simple.
The real question is how many more Francesco Nicodemos are out there who haven’t come forward? How many people received those WhatsApp notifications and decided to keep quiet, either out of fear or because they didn’t want to become political pawns? We may never know the full scale of this, and that’s exactly what makes it so concerning.
