Technology
ICE holds $2 million contract for Paragon Solutions' zero-click Graphite spyware
The surveillance tool can access encrypted messaging apps without user interaction and was previously linked to monitoring in Europe.
The short version
- U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has a $2 million contract with surveillance vendor Paragon Solutions for its zero-click spyware product, Graphite.
- Graphite can compromise smartphones via messaging vulnerabilities to extract data from apps like WhatsApp and Signal after decryption.
- The contract was cleared to proceed in August 2025 following a review under federal restrictions on commercial spyware.
- The specific operational safeguards and domestic deployment rules for ICE's use of the tool remain undisclosed.
Key facts
- ICE entered into a $2 million contract with Paragon Solutions in September 2024, which was initially paused under a 2023 executive order on commercial spyware before being permitted to resume in August 2025.[Hacker News]
- Paragon's Graphite spyware operates as a zero-click surveillance tool capable of extracting data locally from encrypted messaging applications such as WhatsApp and Signal without requiring user interaction.[Hacker News]
- Italy's parliamentary intelligence committee confirmed domestic agencies used Graphite against immigration activists under legal national security mandates, while forensic researchers also detected infections on European journalists' devices.[Hacker News]
- Researchers identified Graphite exploits targeting WhatsApp and an iMessage vulnerability that Apple patched in iOS 18.3.1.[Hacker News]
What remains uncertain
- Neither ICE nor Paragon has publicly detailed the operational safeguards, target criteria, or whether the technology will be deployed within the United States.[Hacker News]
- The entity responsible for the December 2024 Graphite infection of Italian journalist Francesco Cancellato remains unidentified after Italian intelligence records showed no corresponding operation.[Hacker News]