Taylor Lorenz’s Power User ICE can now hack your phone without you knowing
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Sep 5, 2025 A new government contract gives ICE access to a powerful spyware called Graphite, allowing them to hack phones without any user interaction. This unsettling technology can monitor everything on your device, even encrypted communications, raising serious concerns about privacy and civil liberties. The implications for activists, journalists, and dissidents are enormous. The discussion also offers insights on staying safe from such invasive technologies, making audience members reconsider their personal cybersecurity.
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Zero-Click Spyware Bypasses User Action
- Paragon's Graphite uses zero-click exploits to infect phones without any action from the user.
- Once installed it captures everything before or after encryption on the device, including encrypted app messages.
Device Compromise Trumps Network Decryption
- Graphite compromises the device itself rather than breaking encryption math in transit.
- That allows operators to see messages, photos, calls, and microphone data directly on the infected phone.
Real-World Infections and Backlash
- Citizen Lab and the University of Toronto found Paragon infections in the wild and Apple sent threat alerts to victims.
- Paragon even suspended an Italy contract after reports it was used to spy on reporters.