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Reposted by Vas Panagiotopoulos

Le Monde @lemonde.fr · 9h

NSO Group, vendeur du logiciel espion Pegasus, en passe d’être racheté par des investisseurs américains

L’entreprise a confirmé au site TechCrunch qu’un groupe d’investisseurs avait « acquis une part majoritaire » dans la société.

www.lemonde.fr

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Reposted by Vas Panagiotopoulos

Joseph Cox @josephcox.bsky.social · 11h

I spoke to Slate about why 404 Media is suing ICE for its $2 million spyware contract. The company ICE contracted with can remotely break into phones without the target even clicking a link slate.com/podcasts/wha...

The People Suing ICE

What kind of spyware is ICE working with—and what government agencies are collaborating?

slate.com

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Reposted by Vas Panagiotopoulos

Ron Deibert @rondeibert.bsky.social · 10h

For over a decade, we @citizenlab.ca have documented extensive abuse of NSO Group's spyware, including being used to target political opposition, journalists, activists, human rights defenders and US govt officials.

*This sale should not be permitted*

techcrunch.com/2025/10/10/s...

Spyware maker NSO Group confirms acquisition by US investors | TechCrunch

NSO Group confirmed to TechCrunch that an unnamed group of American investors has taken “controlling ownership” of the surveillance tech maker.

techcrunch.com

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Vas Panagiotopoulos @vaspanagiotopoulos.com · 7h

NSO spokesperson Oded Hershowitz told @lorenzofb.bsky.social that “an American investment group has invested tens of millions of dollars in the company & has acquired controlling ownership.” He declined to specify the amount invested, as well as who the investors are.

techcrunch.com/2025/10/10/s...

Spyware maker NSO Group confirms acquisition by US investors | TechCrunch

NSO Group confirmed to TechCrunch that an unnamed group of American investors has taken “controlling ownership” of the surveillance tech maker.

techcrunch.com

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Reposted by Vas Panagiotopoulos

Lily Hay Newman @lhn.bsky.social · 14h

As Apple expands its bug bounty, I spoke with VP Ivan Krstić about the significance + recent big swings like Memory Integrity Enforcement. These steps protect all users, but particularly those targeted by spyware: “We feel a great moral obligation to defend those users” www.wired.com/story/apple-...

Apple Announces $2 Million Bug Bounty Reward for the Most Dangerous Exploits

With the mercenary spyware industry booming, Apple VP Ivan Krstić tells WIRED that the company is also offering bonuses that could bring the max total reward for iPhone exploits to $5 million.

www.wired.com

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Reposted by Vas Panagiotopoulos

John Scott-Railton @jsrailton.bsky.social · 15h

NEW: Pegasus spyware coming to America?

An ex-Adam Sandler producer with ties to China is trying to acquire NSO Group.

Again.

Simonds fronted this before in 2023 & failed. But the backers haven't given up. Why?

Where is the money coming from? 1/

www.globes.co.il/news/article...

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Vas Panagiotopoulos @vaspanagiotopoulos.com · 20h

In English: www.calcalistech.com/ctechnews/ar...

Vas Panagiotopoulos @vaspanagiotopoulos.com · 1d

🚨Hollywood producer Robert Simonds of STX Entertainment, together with a group of 🇺🇸US private investors, has taken over #spyware vendor NSO Group to “save it from debt and help rescue it from the US Dept. of Commerce’s blacklisting,” 🇮🇱 business outlet Globes reports.
www.globes.co.il/news/article...

חוב של מאות מיליונים נמחק: הניסיון החדש להציל את NSO | בלעדי

www.globes.co.il

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Vas Panagiotopoulos @vaspanagiotopoulos.com · 1d

💡It’s not the first time Simonds has flirted with acquiring NSO.

In 2023, media reported that Simonds & William “Beau” Wrigley, heir to his family’s chewing-gum fortune, considered acquiring assets of the US blacklisted Israeli company.

✍️ @skirchy.bsky.social
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023...

Hollywood producer and chewing gum heir explore takeover of notorious spyware firm assets

Robert Simonds and William ‘Beau’ Wrigley consider acquiring assets of NSO, blacklisted Israeli company behind Pegasus spyware

www.theguardian.com

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Vas Panagiotopoulos @vaspanagiotopoulos.com · 1d

➡️ Simonds' credits include Adam Sandler films The Wedding Singer, Big Daddy.

“After the deal closes in the coming days, tens of millions of dollars will be injected into NSO, while all its debts will be wiped out. On paper, its last valuation before being blacklisted in 2021 exceeded $600 million.”

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Vas Panagiotopoulos @vaspanagiotopoulos.com · 1d

🚨Hollywood producer Robert Simonds of STX Entertainment, together with a group of 🇺🇸US private investors, has taken over #spyware vendor NSO Group to “save it from debt and help rescue it from the US Dept. of Commerce’s blacklisting,” 🇮🇱 business outlet Globes reports.
www.globes.co.il/news/article...

חוב של מאות מיליונים נמחק: הניסיון החדש להציל את NSO | בלעדי

www.globes.co.il

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Vas Panagiotopoulos @vaspanagiotopoulos.com · 1d

The alleged targeting of Caltagirone now widens the ongoing Paragon #spyware scandal in 🇮🇹Italy to victims beyond journalists and activists, writes @lorenzofb.bsky.social.

techcrunch.com/2025/10/09/i...

Italian businessman's phone reportedly targeted with Paragon spyware | TechCrunch

The alleged targeting of prominent Italian businessman Francesco Gaetano Caltagirone now widens the Paragon spyware scandal in Italy to victims beyond journalists and activists.

techcrunch.com

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Reposted by Vas Panagiotopoulos

Meredith Whittaker @meredithmeredith.bsky.social · 1d

We're so relieved to see Germany reaffirm its opposition to the dangerous Chat Control proposal--the one that would mandate mass scanning of communications. Germany's long been a solid champion of privacy, and the news that it was considering backing mass surveillance was alarming. 1/

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Reposted by Vas Panagiotopoulos

Antonella Napolitano @svaroschi.bsky.social · 1d

NEW Prominent Italian businessman among the targets of Paragon spyware

🧵 Francesco Caltagirone received a WhatsApp message on January 31. He has been at the center of a major banking operation involving the government.
@faffa42.bsky.social on @irpimedia.eu

irpimedia.irpi.eu/prominent-it...

Prominent Italian businessman also among the targets of Paragon spyware

Francesco Gaetano Caltagirone received a WhatsApp message on January 31, along with 90 other users around the world. Since the end of 2024, he has been at the center of a major banking operation invol...

irpimedia.irpi.eu

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Vas Panagiotopoulos @vaspanagiotopoulos.com · 1d

More information on @irpimedia.eu's investigation here:
irpimedia.irpi.eu/caltagirone-...

Anche Caltagirone tra i bersagli dello spyware di Paragon

L’imprenditore ha ricevuto un messaggio da Whatsapp il 31 gennaio, come altre 90 utenze in tutto il mondo. Da fine 2024, Caltagirone è al centro di un’importante operazione bancaria che coinvolge il g...

irpimedia.irpi.eu

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Vas Panagiotopoulos @vaspanagiotopoulos.com · 1d

According to reconstructions, in Dec 2024 the ☎️number used by Caltagirone was added to a WhatsApp chat with contacts known to him, within which a PDF file had been shared. Shortly afterwards, the chat & the PDF disappeared.

✍️ @faffa42.bsky.social & Gianluca Paolucci.
www.lastampa.it/economia/202...

Il caso Paragon si allarga agli imprenditori: anche Caltagirone spiato

Il telefono del finanziere romano tra i protagonisti del riassetto del sistema bancario sarebbe stato attaccato con lo spyware che ha colpito anche giornalisti…

www.lastampa.it

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Vas Panagiotopoulos @vaspanagiotopoulos.com · 1d

⚠️ Caltagirone is one of the leading figures in a series of operations reshaping Italy’s 💶 financial landscape.

➡️ He is a shareholder in Generali, Monte dei Paschi (MPS), and Mediobanca – the latter having just been acquired by MPS (which also counts the Italian state among its shareholders).

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Vas Panagiotopoulos @vaspanagiotopoulos.com · 1d

🚨 According to @irpimedia.eu & @lastampa.bsky.social, prominent 🇮🇹 Italian businessman Francesco Gaetano Caltagirone has been added to the list of people who last January received a message from WhatsApp informing them that they had been targeted with Paragon's Graphite #spyware.

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Vas Panagiotopoulos @vaspanagiotopoulos.com · 2d

Law firm Williams & Connolly said that suspected nation-state hackers recently used a zero-day attack to break into email accounts belonging to a small number of attorneys, writes @suzannesmalley.bsky.social. NYTimes sources have said the hackers are linked to 🇨🇳China.
therecord.media/us-law-firm-...

Major US law firm says hackers broke into attorneys’ emails accounts

While the firm did not specify which nation-state it believes the hacker is affiliated with, The New York Times reported that sources have said it is China.

therecord.media

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Reposted by Vas Panagiotopoulos

404 Media @404media.co · 2d

BREAKING: Apple removed an app for preserving TikToks, Instagram reels, news reports, and videos documenting abuses by ICE

🔗 www.404media.co/apple-banned...

Apple Banned an App That Simply Archived Videos of ICE Abuses

Eyes Up's purpose is to "preserve evidence until it can be used in court." But it has been swept up in Apple's crackdown on ICE-spotting apps.

www.404media.co

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Reposted by Vas Panagiotopoulos

John Scott-Railton @jsrailton.bsky.social · 2d

NEW: Germany opposes mass scanning of private messages.

"must be taboo in a constitutional state"

"even the worst crimes don't justify giving up basic civil rights"

Well said Minister Stefanie Hubig!

Leadership we need from Europe's democracies.
www.bmjv.de/SharedDocs/Z...

Dr. Stefanie Hubig, Federal Minister of Justice and Consumer Protection, on the occasion of political discussions about privacy in the digital space and about a proposal for an EU regulation to prevent and combat sexual abuse

„Unreasonable chat control must be taboo in a constitutional state. Private communication must never be under general suspicion.“

08. October 2025

„Unreasonable chat control must be taboo in a constitutional state. Private communication must never be under general suspicion. The state must also not force messengers to scan messages en masse for suspicious content before sending them. Germany will not agree to such proposals at EU level. We must also make progress in the fight against child pornography at EU level. That's what I'm committed to. But even the worst crimes do not justify giving up basic civil rights. The federal government's votes have insisted on this for months. And it will stay that way.“

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Reposted by Vas Panagiotopoulos

Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai @lorenzofb.bsky.social · 2d

Here's an updated list of all the technology ICE has in its arsenal to mass deport people.

We've added new sections on cell-site simulators and cellphone location data.

techcrunch.com/2025/10/08/h...

Here's the tech powering ICE's deportation crackdown | TechCrunch

From phone spyware and facial recognition to phone unlocking technology and databases and more, this tech powers Trump's deportation machine.

techcrunch.com

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Reposted by Vas Panagiotopoulos

Follow the Money EU @ftm.eu · 2d

💻 In FTM’s latest podcast, @vaspanagiotopoulos.com reveals how EU funds have gone to spyware firms linked to human rights abuses – companies now profiting from taxpayers’ money.

⚠️ Since publication, 39 MEPs have urged the European Commission to act over EU subsidies financing spyware firms.

Podcast | European money is fueling the global spyware industry

A stranger reading your messages, tracking your movements, scrolling through your photos. That's what spyware can do – without you even knowing. It’s marketed as a tool to fight terrorism and crime, b...

www.ftm.eu

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Vas Panagiotopoulos @vaspanagiotopoulos.com · 2d

Meanwhile, @apache.be revealed that the 🇪🇺 European Investment Fund (EIF) provided venture capital to another major #spyware player – Paragon Solutions.

➡️ apache.be/2025/10/01/e...

👀 Read my full investigation here:
www.ftm.eu/articles/spy...

Spyware industry pockets EU subsidies while snooping on its citizens

The widespread use of commercial spyware for unlawful surveillance across Europe has raised alarm – but the funding of such tools has largely gone under the radar. Follow the Money can reveal how mill...

www.ftm.eu

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Vas Panagiotopoulos @vaspanagiotopoulos.com · 2d

⚠️ Since the piece was published, 39 MEPs from 4 political groups have written to the @ec.europa.eu to express their "deep concerns" that EU subsidies, alongside national taxpayer funds, have directly financed #spyware companies.

Saskia Bricmont @saskiabricmont.bsky.social · 10d

Public money is funding spyware!

With 39 MEPs from 4 political groups, we are writing to the @ec.europa.eu to express deep concerns following @ftm.eu revelations that EU financed spyware companies!

This must stop! We call on full transparency and follow up on the PEGA committee recommendations!

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Vas Panagiotopoulos @vaspanagiotopoulos.com · 2d

Really enjoyed speaking with @emmaduchatinier.bsky.social and @alexfanta.bsky.social on the @ftm.eu podcast about my investigation into 🇪🇺European funding for commercial #spyware companies.

Thanks for having me! 🙏

📺 Watch: youtu.be/htXwY5KQzas?...

🎧 Listen: www.ftm.eu/articles/eur...

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