Category Archives: Citizen Lab

NSO Group spyware targeted widow of Mexican journalist, researchers say

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A notorious piece of spyware has been used to target the wife of a slain Mexican journalist, security researchers said Wednesday, adding to ongoing public scrutiny of the company that developed the powerful surveillance tool. Days after Javier Valdez Cárdenas, a reporter known for his coverage of international drug trafficking, was murdered in May 2017, multiple attempts were made to hack the phone of his widow, Griselda Triana, with spyware made by NSO Group, according to Citizen Lab, a digital rights and research organization at the University of Toronto. The text messages sent to Triana, who is also a journalist, were laced with software that would have turned her phone into a multifaceted surveillance device, Citizen Lab researchers said. One of the messages tugged at her grief as a widow, asking, “What do you think of this story?” Triana didn’t click on either link and turned the texts over to Mexican advocacy […]

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Canadian Internet Filtering Company Says It’s Stopped ‘Alternative Lifestyles’ Censorship

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The UAE was found to be blocking LGBTQ content using a pre-set category in Netsweeper’s software. Amid pressure from rights groups, the company says it’s disabled that category. Continue reading Canadian Internet Filtering Company Says It’s Stopped ‘Alternative Lifestyles’ Censorship→

NSO Group spyware used against two Mexican journalists following assassination

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One day in May 2017 after the investigative journalist Javier Cárdenas was assassinated in Mexico, two of his colleagues at the Ríodoce newspaper began receiving text messages claiming to have information about the killer. The texts sent to Andrés Villarreal and Ismael Bojórquez, Ríodoce’s director, included links promising evidence that would prove a Mexican drug cartel was behind Cárdenas’ death. But the messages in fact were a surreptitious attempt by a Mexican government-linked organization to hack the journalists’ phones with Pegasus, a hacking tool that would have allowed operators to monitor their text messages, pictures, location and covertly activate the phones’ microphone and camera. Neither man clicked the links, suspicious that public officials were somehow behind the ruse. Researchers later confirmed their hunch, according to the New York Times. “I believe they wanted to search our conversations and messages for clues to the murder of Javier, but we are absolutely against […]

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It’s Amateur Hour in the World of Spyware and Victims Will Pay the Price

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We’re living in the golden age of spyware and government hacking, with companies rushing to join a blossoming billion dollar market. The weakest among us—activists or journalists—will suffer the consequences if we don’t regulate it appropriately. Continue reading It’s Amateur Hour in the World of Spyware and Victims Will Pay the Price→

Virus Bulletin 2018: Saudi Dissident Spyware Attack Belies Bigger Threat

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A spyware attack on a Saudi dissident living in Canada made headlines this week, but Citizen Lab warns that simpler attacks are the real epidemic. Continue reading Virus Bulletin 2018: Saudi Dissident Spyware Attack Belies Bigger Threat→

Mobile Phone Call Scams, Pegasus Mobile Spyware, Newegg Data Breach – WB35

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This is the Shared Security Weekly Blaze for September 24, 2018 sponsored by Security Perspectives – Your Source for Tailored Security Awareness Training and Assessment Solutions and Silent Pocket.  This episode was hosted by … Continue reading Mobile Phone Call Scams, Pegasus Mobile Spyware, Newegg Data Breach – WB35→

They Got ‘Everything’: Inside a Demo of NSO Group’s Powerful iPhone Malware

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A source managed to see Israeli surveillance vendor NSO Group’s powerful iPhone malware up close. Despite a wave of highly controversial customers, the company appears to be popular worldwide. Continue reading They Got ‘Everything’: Inside a Demo of NSO Group’s Powerful iPhone Malware→

Pegasus spyware active in 45 countries, Citizen Lab says

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An infamous brand of mobile spyware may be operating in 45 countries as part of a sprawling footprint that could enable human rights abuses, according to a new report. The Pegasus spyware made by Israeli surveillance company NSO Group correlated with more than a thousand IP addresses over a two year-study conducted by The Citizen Lab, a research and development organization at the University of Toronto. The Pegasus spyware attempts to lure targets into clinking on links and then delivers zero-day exploits to breach the defenses of iPhones and Android phones. Several of the countries where the researchers detected Pegasus have poor human rights records, such as Bahrain, Kazakhstan, and Saudi Arabia. “Our findings paint a bleak picture of the human rights risks of NSO’s global proliferation,” the report states. At least 10 operators of the spyware “appear to be actively engaged in cross-border surveillance,” according to Citizen Lab, pointing to the geopolitical […]

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