Italy Has a Spyware Problem — And It Goes Much Deeper Than One Company

[cryptoenthusiast]

The discovery of Morpheus and its links to IPS is not an isolated incident — it is the latest chapter in a long and growing story of Italian surveillance technology being used against domestic targets. IPS joins a list of Italian spyware makers that researchers have publicly exposed in recent years, including CY4GATE, eSurv, GR Sistemi, Movia, Negg, Raxir, RCS Lab, and SIO. Earlier this month alone, WhatsApp notified around 200 users who had unknowingly installed a fake version of the app that was actually spyware built by SIO. In 2021, Italian prosecutors suspended use of both CY4GATE and SIO spyware due to serious malfunctions during active investigations.

The sheer number of companies operating in this space reflects how high demand for spyware remains among law enforcement and intelligence agencies, with many providers deliberately staying out of the public spotlight. Italian spyware makers have largely filled the void left by Hacking Team, one of the world's first commercial spyware companies, which collapsed after being hacked and later rebranded. The Morpheus malware code itself contained Italian phrases and references to Gomorra — the famous book and TV series about the Neapolitan mob — a detail researchers described as seemingly becoming a tradition among Italian spyware developers. For anyone involved in political activism, journalism, or civil society work in Italy, the message from this latest discovery is clear: the surveillance threat is real, active, and closer to home than many realize.

[johnblockbuster]

“install this update to restore your internet” → installs government-grade spyware