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Spyware developer Paragon Solutions is expected to become publicly traded through REDLattice’s combination with Nasdaq-listed special-purpose acquisition company Bold Eagle Acquisition Corp. REDLattice had previously been combined with Paragon by AE Industrial Partners, and the transaction is expected to close around year-end, with Paragon operating under the REDLattice umbrella on Nasdaq.
REDLattice and Paragon reported combined revenue of $267 million for the 12 months ending in June, a 29% year-over-year increase. Public-market reporting could bring greater visibility to Paragon, whose Graphite spyware faced scrutiny after WhatsApp said in January 2025 that roughly 90 people—including journalists, human-rights workers, and civil-society members—had been targeted.
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In January 2025, WhatsApp disclosed that Paragon's Graphite spyware had targeted approximately 90 users, including journalists, human-rights workers, and civil-society members.
REDLattice announced a combination with Nasdaq-listed SPAC Bold Eagle Acquisition Corp., a transaction expected to make Paragon part of a publicly traded REDLattice umbrella. The deal is expected to close around year-end, after which the combined company is expected to trade on Nasdaq.
Journalists, human-rights workers, and other civil-society members subsequently reported that their devices had been targeted with Paragon's Graphite spyware.
AE Industrial Partners, which owns Paragon Solutions, previously merged the spyware maker with cyber-defense firm REDLattice. Paragon retained its research and development hub in Israel.
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WhatsApp said it disrupted a **zero-click spyware campaign** that targeted about 90 users, including journalists and civil society members across more than two dozen countries, and linked the activity to Israeli spyware maker **Paragon**. The company said attackers used malicious PDF files sent through WhatsApp groups to compromise devices, patched the attack path, notified affected users, and sent Paragon a cease-and-desist letter. Researchers at Citizen Lab said they had also observed Paragon using the same vector, marking one of the first public cases tying the company to alleged surveillance of journalists and activists. The disclosure escalated into a political dispute in Italy after journalist **Francesco Cancellato** was identified among the targets. Paragon said it terminated contracts with Italian government customers after Rome refused its help in determining whether its **Graphite** spyware had been used unlawfully, while Italian officials said broader access to spyware logs would have exposed sensitive intelligence information and described the suspension as mutual. Italy’s parliamentary committee **COPASIR** said there was no evidence that intelligence agencies targeted Cancellato, though it confirmed the agencies were Paragon customers and found that some other individuals had been lawfully surveilled in investigations, intensifying scrutiny of Paragon’s claims that it operates as a more responsible spyware vendor.
Jun 29, 2026
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement confirmed to lawmakers that it bought and used Paragon Solutions spyware, including **Graphite**, in investigations tied to drug trafficking, fentanyl networks, and other organizations using encrypted communications. Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons said the deployment complied with constitutional requirements and the 2023 executive order restricting government use of commercial spyware, but House Democrats including **Rep. Summer Lee** said ICE had not provided enough documentation, safeguards, or oversight to justify such invasive surveillance. The disclosure followed the reactivation of ICE’s Paragon contract after an earlier suspension for review, and came amid wider controversy over reports linking Paragon spyware to targeting of journalists and activists. The admission intensified concerns that U.S. policy may be softening toward the commercial spyware industry even as evidence mounts that these vendors are driving serious cyber abuse. Reporting and research cited growing alarm over the lifting of sanctions on Intellexa executives, new U.S.-linked ownership of **NSO Group** and Paragon, and the expanding role of brokers, resellers, and other intermediaries that help spyware vendors evade export controls and obscure supply chains. Analysts also noted that Google attributed more zero-day exploitation to commercial surveillance vendors than to traditional state-backed groups in 2025, while lawmakers pressed for briefings on federal spyware use and U.S. investment in firms long associated with abuses involving **Pegasus**, **Predator**, and related surveillance tools.
Jun 29, 2026
Italian prosecutors are investigating a spyware scandal after **WhatsApp** and **Apple** alerted journalists, activists, and NGO workers that they had been targeted with mercenary spyware linked to **Paragon Solutions’ Graphite** platform. The campaign reportedly affected about 90 people worldwide, and public disclosures in Italy included journalist **Francesco Cancellato**, Fanpage journalist **Ciro Pellegrino**, and Mediterranea Saving Humans figures **Luca Casarini** and **Beppe Caccia**. Researchers at **Citizen Lab** later confirmed infections of Pellegrino and another European journalist, tying one case to a sophisticated zero-click **iMessage** exploit that Apple said was mitigated in `iOS 18.3.1`. The case has intensified scrutiny of Italy’s intelligence services after a parliamentary committee said agencies **AISI** and **AISE** were Paragon customers, even as the government denied targeting legally protected subjects such as journalists. Paragon said it had offered help investigating the alleged surveillance and later cut ties with Italy, but prosecutors in Rome and Naples reportedly have not received the company’s cooperation through formal channels, raising questions about accountability and Israeli assistance in spyware investigations. The dispute echoes earlier battles over Israeli spyware vendors, including **NSO Group’s Pegasus**, which was previously used in WhatsApp-based attacks and became the subject of major litigation and international scrutiny.
Jun 29, 2026