Italy's government said on Wednesday that seven mobile phone users in the country had been targeted by spyware on Meta Platforms' WhatsApp messaging service, and it called the incident "particularly serious".

Cancellato is the first target to come forward following the disclosure of a hacking campaign carried out using spyware allegedly made by Paragon Solutions, as WhatsApp claimed on Friday.

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

A spyware attack linked to Paragon Solutions has affected WhatsApp users in over two dozen countries, including Italy. Targeting journalists and activists, the government is investigating the incident,