WhatsApp is notifying hundreds of users who installed a fake app produced by a government spyware company

WhatsApp says it has notified about 200 users who were tricked into installing a malicious fake version of the chat app containing spyware.

WhatsApp has accused Italian spyware maker SIO of creating a fake version of its messaging app for iPhones, according to an announcement the company shared with TechCrunch.

“Our security team proactively identified around 200 users primarily in Italy, who we believe may have downloaded this unofficial malicious client,” WhatsApp said in its statement. “We logged them out, and they were alerted [them] pointed out the risks to their privacy and security that come with downloading unofficial fake clients, and encouraged them to remove it and download the official WhatsApp application.

WhatsApp spokeswoman Margarita Franklin told TechCrunch that at this point, the company cannot share more information about the users it has notified, such as whether they are journalists or members of civil society.

“Our priority was to protect users who may have been tricked into downloading this fake iOS app,” Franklin said.

WhatsApp also said in its announcement that it plans to “send a formal legal request to stop any such malicious activity to this spyware company.”

The Italian newspaper La Repubblica and the ANSA news agency first reported the news.

Last year, TechCrunch revealed that SIO was behind a series of malicious Android apps containing its own spyware, including fake versions of WhatsApp, as well as fake customer support tools for mobile phone providers. SIO’s spyware was identified as Spyrtacus, a word that appeared in the spyware’s code.

The use of fake apps against surveillance targets is a well-established tactic used by authorities in Italy, who often get cooperation from mobile phone providers, who send phishing links to their customers on behalf of law enforcement.

SIO develops government spyware through its ASIGINT subsidiary.

Apple and SIO did not respond to a request for comment.

WhatsApp’s latest announcement comes a year after the company alerted about 90 users that they had been targeted with spyware made by the American-Israeli surveillance technology company Paragon Solutions. WhatsApp sent these notifications to journalists and pro-immigration activists, among others, sparking a widespread scandal across Italy.

In response, Paragon cut ties with Italian spy agencies, which had been its clients.