WhatsApp told TechCrunch that it believed the hacking campaign happened in December, and that it sent a cease and desist letter to Paragon. Idan Nurick, the CEO of Paragon, did not respond to a request for comment sent via LinkedIn. AE Industrial did not respond to a request for comment.

A senior executive at chat service WhatsApp alleged that Israeli spyware company Paragon Solutions attempted to breach the devices of 90 users including journalists, "Reuters" reports. Paragon declined to comment on the report.

According to the chat service, an Israeli company called Paragon Solutions used group chats and PDFs to target the individuals.