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Category: Citizen Lab

Researchers find Jordan government used Cellebrite phone-cracking tech against activists

Jordanian authorities used Cellebrite phone-cracking technology to access the devices of domestic activists and human rights defenders and then extract information from them, according to an investigation published Thursday. The nonconsensual access stood in conflict with international human rights treaties that Jordan ratified, the University of Toronto’s Citizen Lab investigation determined, prompting the research organization…

BadBazaar and Moonshine malware targets Taiwanese, Tibetan and Uyghur groups, U.K. warns

Two spyware variants are targeting Uyghur, Taiwanese and Tibetan groups and individuals, the U.K.’s National Cyber Security Centre warned in a joint alert Wednesday with Western allies. Cybersecurity researchers have previously linked the BADBAZAAR and MOONSHINE spyware to the Chinese government. The variants mentioned in Wednesday’s alert trojanize apps that are of interest to the…

Six additional countries identified as suspected Paragon spyware customers

Researchers have identified suspected government customers of spyware company Paragon Solutions in six more countries that hadn’t previously been publicly identified, according to a report published Wednesday. The University of Toronto’s Citizen Lab said it mapped the infrastructure of Paragon’s Graphite tool after a tip from a collaborator, and found a subset of suspected Paragon…

WhatsApp says it disrupted spyware campaign aimed at reporters, civil society

WhatsApp said Friday that it had disrupted a spyware campaign that targeted 90 people, including journalists and activists. The company tied to the campaign, according to WhatsApp, is Israeli firm Paragon, which last fall signed a $2 million contract with Immigration and Customs Enforcement and recently was purchased by U.S. private equity giant AE International.…

Why Apple sends spyware victims to this nonprofit security lab

Before the elections, the cybersecurity team of U.S. vice president and then-presidential candidate Kamala Harris reached out to Apple asking for help, according to Forbes, after a tool that’s designed to detect spyware on iPhones flagged anomalies on two devices belonging to campaign staffers. Apple declined to forensically analyze the phones, per Forbes.  The company’s…