NEW: Citizen Lab researchers mapped out the infrastructure of spyware maker Paragon Solutions, and say they were able to identify servers likely used by customers in several countries: Australia, Canada, Cyprus, Denmark, Israel, and Singapore. Paragon’s executive chairman John Fleming said Citizen Lab shared in advance "very limited amount of information, some of which appears to be inaccurate." He declined to say what was inaccurate exactly.

TechCrunch

Researchers name six countries as likely customers of Paragon's spyware | TechCrunch

The Citizen Lab said it believes several governments may be customers of spyware maker Paragon Solutions.

I wish I was surprised by this. Morgan Marquis-Boire, a well known hacker who has faced multiple credible accusations of sexual violence, was secretly running a crypto security company. https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2025/03/14/cryptocurrency-unciphered-morgan-marquis-boire/

NEW: Lockdown Mode has become a must-use for dissidents, activists, and journalists. But Lockdown Mode's notifications are extremely baffling, and nobody understands what they are trying to say, or what is Lockdown Mode actually doing. Apple refused to provide any explanations. For the love of god, Apple, please fix this mess.

TechCrunch

Apple’s Lockdown Mode is good for security — but its notifications are baffling | TechCrunch

Lockdown Mode is an "extreme protection" feature that's good for at-risk users, but its notifications are increasingly confusing.

I am starting to think these Lockdown Mode notifications are even dumber and confusing than I thought. I get them all the time while I chat with someone, for example, after their first message. Apparently, they don't do anything because the conversation keeps going. (This happens with people who are in my contact list btw) But then, the other day I saw one one of these warnings, which named a person I wasn't messaging with at the time. Should I assume this means they were messaging me and Lockdown Mode prevented them? Does anyone know what these notifications actually mean? Or what they are supposed to tell a Lockdown Mode user?

NEW: Google fixed three zero-day vulnerabilities in Android that were used by authorities to unlock phones with Cellebrite forensic tools. The fixes come after Amnesty alerted Google, following the analysis of a Serbian student protester's phone.

TechCrunch

Researchers uncover unknown Android flaws used to hack into a student's phone | TechCrunch

Amnesty International said that Google fixed previously unknown flaws in Android that allowed authorities to unlock phones using forensic tools. On

NEW: Hacked crypto exchange Bybit is offering $140 million in bounties to anyone who can help locate and freeze the stolen ethereum. Bybit also disclosed preliminary results of investigations, which reveal hackers breached a developer’s device at a wallet platform Safe Wallet.

TechCrunch

Hacked crypto exchange Bybit offers $140M bounty to trace stolen funds | TechCrunch

Bybit has already paid more than $4 million to bounty hunters who helped trace and freeze some of the stolen funds.

Updates on Paragon scandal in Italy via Guardian: -Journalist union filed criminal complaint due to Meloni's government not answering Qs. <li>President of 🇮🇹 parliament invoked rule to not respond Qs claiming all unclassified info has been made public.</li> -Italy's foreign intelligence agency AISE, confirmed it is a customer of Paragon in Parliament, and that the the contract is suspended. Still lots of unanswered questions.

the Guardian

Journalists launch legal action against Italian government over spyware claims

Union submits criminal complaint to prosecutors as ministers refuse to answer questions about alleged hacks

NEW: We have curated a list of people who are working, or are at least associated, with the Department Of Government Efficiency, or DOGE. There have been a few lists like these, and they are great. We have some new details here. https://techcrunch.com/2025/02/18/the-people-in-elon-musk-doge-universe/

NEW: Apple released a fix for a zero-day bug for iOS and iPadOS that “may have been exploited in an extremely sophisticated attack against specific targeted individuals.” AFAIK this is the first time Apple uses "extremely sophisticated attack" in an official release. At this point, we don't know who abused the flaw, nor against whom.

TechCrunch

Apple fixes iPhone and iPad bug used in an &#039;extremely sophisticated attack&#039; | TechCrunch

Unknown attackers may have exploited a zero-day bug to access data on locked phones, according to Apple.

NEW: We spoke to the Italian journalist who was targeted on WhatsApp with government spyware made by Paragon.  “I feel violated,” Francesco Cancellato told me. “It is actually quite strange for a journalist to be spied on in a Western democracy.” Cancellato is the director of Fanpage.it, which last year published a damning investigation on the youth wing of the current far-right government in Italy.  Full story, which includes the text of the notification he received from WhatsApp, here:

TechCrunch

Journalist targeted on WhatsApp by Paragon spyware: &#039;I feel violated&#039; | TechCrunch

An Italian investigative journalist said he was the target of a spyware attack disclosed by WhatsApp.