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The US government has reactivated a $2 million contract with controversial spyware vendor Paragon Solutions.
As noted by journalist and former Google research scientist Jack Poulson, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) lifted its hold on the contract, which involves sourcing software from Paragon Solutions.
The contract was originally supposed to start a year ago. But the Biden administration placed the deal on hold due to a 2023 executive order restricting federal agencies from using commercial spyware involved in surveillance and human rights violations.
On Saturday, ICE posted an update that says: “This contract is for a fully configured proprietary solution including license, hardware, warranty, maintenance, and training. This modification is to lift the stop work order.”
ICE didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment, making it unclear how the agency plans on using Paragon's software. Still, the contract’s reactivation will raise questions and concerns about the Trump administration potentially using spyware within US borders. A security researcher at Citizen Lab, John Scott-Railton, tweeted: “Foreign mercenary spyware is coming to the US.”
Earlier this year, Citizen Lab helped uncovered evidence that Paragon’s “Graphite” spyware had been found on iPhones belonging to two European journalists through an "iMessage zero-click attack." In January, WhatsApp also traced a spyware attack from Paragon that targeted at least 90 users with malicious PDFs.
Paragon was originally founded in Israel to help law enforcement combat crime, and became a competitor to another controversial spyware vendor called NSO Group. Paragon has since come under US ownership after it was reportedly sold to a US investment firm called AE Industrial Partners.