WhatsApp has accused Israeli spyware firm Paragon Solutions of launching a sophisticated cyberattack against nearly 100 journalists and civil society members. The attack, which exploited vulnerabilities in the messaging platform, has raised serious concerns over spyware misuse and accountability.

According to a report by The Guardian, the spyware, known as Graphite, is capable of infiltrating devices without requiring any action from the victim—a technique known as a zero-click attack. This means that users’ phones could be compromised without them clicking on malicious links or opening suspicious messages.

Meta-owned WhatsApp has reported that it informed the affected users and expressed “high confidence” that some devices had been successfully breached. However, the company has not disclosed the locations of the targeted individuals. Security experts believe that the attack may have been executed through malicious PDF files sent in group chats.

While the identity of the entity behind the hacking remains unclear, Paragon Solutions, like other spyware companies, sells its technology to government clients. WhatsApp has not identified which governments or agencies were responsible for this specific attack.

The company has been collaborating with researchers at Citizen Lab, a cybersecurity research group at the University of Toronto, to investigate the breach. This incident comes in the wake of WhatsApp’s ongoing legal battle against NSO Group, another Israeli spyware firm. In 2019, WhatsApp accused NSO Group of hacking 1,400 users, leading to a U.S. judge ruling that NSO had violated American hacking laws and WhatsApp’s terms of service.

The latest revelations highlight the persistent threats posed by commercial spyware and the growing need for stronger regulations to prevent misuse by authoritarian regimes and malicious actors. WhatsApp continues to urge users to stay vigilant and update their devices to the latest security patches to mitigate potential risks.