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The Citizen Lab

@citizenlab.ca

We are an academic research unit at the University of Toronto investigating novel threats to democracy, human rights, and global security in the digital ecosystem.

225 Posts12940 Follower36 Folgt
The Citizen Lab@citizenlab.ca · 40m ago

Citizen Lab researchers @sanstis.bsky.social, @mmichae1sen.bsky.social, and @katepundyk.bsky.social write about how restrictive immigration policies enable transnational repression for @fpcthinktank.bsky.social. Read: fpc.org.uk/immigration-...

Long Read | Immigration Policy: The Backdoor to Transnational Repression - The Foreign Policy Centre

Democratic governments are stepping up efforts to combat transnational repression, but restrictive immigration policies may inadvertently help authoritarian regimes target dissidents.

fpc.org.uk

The Citizen Lab@citizenlab.ca · 5d ago

Senior research associate @kate-ro.bsky.social speaks about Canada’s surprising decision to sign the UN Cybercrime Convention with @mgeist.bsky.social, arguing that it has significant implications for human rights and internet freedom. Listen: www.michaelgeist.ca/podcast/epis...

Episode 277: Kate Robertson on the Risks That Lie Behind Canada's Unexpected Signing of the UN Cybercrime Convention - Michael Geist

The Canadian government’s surprise decision to sign the UN Cybercrime Convention has sparked many questions about the convention, its risks, and what changed over the past nine months between Canada n...

michaelgeist.ca

The Citizen Lab@citizenlab.ca · last wk.

A recent investigation by @occrp.org found that the co-founder of NSO Group travelled to Panama in 2013 on an Israeli diplomatic passport. Senior researcher @jsrailton.bsky.social notes that it “raises questions about NSO’s connections to the [Israeli] state.” Read: www.occrp.org/en/project/t...

Co-Founder of Controversial Spyware Firm Had Israeli Diplomatic Passport

Spyware company NSO Group’s co-founder Shalev Hulio used an Israeli diplomatic passport to enter Panama in 2013, raising questions over the firm’s claims of independence from the Israeli state.

occrp.org

Jon Penney@penney.bsky.social · last wk.

Thrilled to have an opportunity to speak about my new book #ChillingEffects with @justinhendrix.bsky.social, Editor in Chief of @techpolicypress.bsky.social Listen in below!

Tech Policy Press@techpolicypress.bsky.social · last wk.

How do surveillance, censorship, and technologies of control get weaponized—and how do we push back? Justin Hendrix talks with Jonathon W. Penney, author of "Chilling Effects: Repression, Conformity, and Power in the Digital Age," about his roadmap for reform.

Ron Deibert@rondeibert.bsky.social · 4w ago

Taiwanese authorities charge executives who helped China’s cyber spies target ICIJ network The probe corroborates @icij.org & @citizenlab.ca findings that attacks against journalists were part of a coordinated espionage campaign sponsored by Beijing. www.icij.org/investigatio...

Taiwanese authorities charge executives who helped China’s cyber spies target ICIJ network - ICIJ

The Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau probe corroborates ICIJ and Citizen Lab’s findings that attacks against journalists were part of a coordinated espionage campaign sponsored by Beijing.

icij.org

Jon Penney@penney.bsky.social · 4w ago

I have a new Op-Ed in @theguardian.com (with Bruce Schneier) on the social chill of AI surveillance. If widely deployed, it will be corrosive to democracy & social progress. We cite my new book #ChillingEffects on how surveillance & tech shapes behavior at scale: www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

AI surveillance is being supercharged – and it will chill social progress | Bruce Schneier and Jon Penney

These systems will soon be able to track our public and private lives. But we can make the policy choices to reject it

theguardian.com

The Citizen Lab@citizenlab.ca · last mo.

1/ NEW REPORT: Former Member of the European Parliament Stelios Kouloglou was repeatedly hacked with NSO Group’s Pegasus spyware while serving on the EU committee investigating Pegasus and other spyware abuses in Europe. Full report: citizenlab.ca/research/mem...

Espionage Against the European Parliament: Member of Committee Investigating Spyware Hacked with Pegasus - The Citizen Lab

We found that former Member of the European Parliament Stelios Kouloglou was hacked with Pegasus spyware while serving on the PEGA committee, which investigated Pegasus and other spyware abuses in Eur...

citizenlab.ca

The Citizen Lab@citizenlab.ca · last mo.

In “How to Combat Transnational Repression,” published in @jodemocracy.bsky.social, Citizen Lab researchers @sanstis.bsky.social and @mmichae1sen.bsky.social write about the lack of accountability for perpetrators of transnational repression. Read: www.journalofdemocracy.org/articles/how...

How to Combat Transnational Repression | Journal of Democracy

Authoritarians actively threaten, intimidate, and murder exiles and opponents wherever they find them. While justice for victims is hard won, it is possible. Here is how democracies can push back.

journalofdemocracy.org

The Citizen Lab@citizenlab.ca · last mo.

1/ NEW RESEARCH: We find that Russian authorities used Cellebrite to gain access to activist Andrey Pivovarov’s phone. Full brief: citizenlab.ca/research/rus...

Russia Breaks Into Human Rights Activist's Phone With Cellebrite - The Citizen Lab

We analyzed Russian activist Andrey Pivovarov’s phone, finding that Russian authorities used forensic extraction tools made by Cellebrite to gain access to his device. A document prepared by Russian a...

citizenlab.ca

Ron Deibert@rondeibert.bsky.social · 2mo ago

It was a real pleasure to speak with Phoebe Fronista of iMEdD about the work of the @citizenlab.ca while in Athens, Greece "Surveillance capitalism, counterintelligence for civil society, and journalism: a conversation with Citizen Lab’s founder" lab.imedd.org/en/surveilla...

Surveillance capitalism, counterintelligence for civil society, and journalism: a conversation with Citizen Lab's founder - iMEdD Lab

The founder and director of the University of Toronto’s renowned Citizen Lab sat down with iMEdD in Athens to talk about the crisis he perceives in liberal democracy and the future of digital spyware.

lab.imedd.org

Cynthia Khoo@cyn-k.bsky.social · 2mo ago

New joint publication by @citizenlab.ca + @cancivlib.bsky.social! In which @kate-ro.bsky.social & I join forces w/ Tamir @digitalprivacy.ca to explain the federal govt's many... "(Un)forced Errors: Analysis of Proposed Surveillance Law Expansion under Bill C-22, An Act respecting lawful access" 🧵1/x

The Citizen Lab (Un)forced Errors: Analysis of Proposed Surveillance Law Expansion under Bill C-22, An Act respecting lawful access -

This submission analyzes Bill C-22, the Lawful Access Act, which would enact broad surveillance obligations and reforms in Canada. Issues include: the bill’s sweeping scope, significant constitutional...

citizenlab.ca

The Citizen Lab@citizenlab.ca · 2mo ago

Doctoral fellow Swantje Lange @swantjelan.bsky.social spoke with the Hasso Plattner Institut @hpi.bsky.social about sophisticated surveillance campaigns being used to exploit mobile networks, sharing that “the mobile network is highly opaque and extremely complex.” hpi.de/en/article/r...

Researchers uncover espionage in mobile networks

Like a spy movie: Researchers from HPI and the University of Toronto reveal how surveillance actors exploit mobile networks to track people worldwide.

hpi.de

The Citizen Lab@citizenlab.ca · 2mo ago

"We believe students aren’t protesting for a very simple reason: They are afraid. They are self-censoring and disengaging from campaign activism to avoid punitive measures," says senior research fellow Jon Penney @penney.bsky.social in his new essay for @theconversation.com.

Jon Penney@penney.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Bruce Schneier (@schneier.com) and I have a new essay in @theconversation.com on the Trump administration's strategy of weaponizing law, technology, & surveillance to chill protest, dissent, & political opposition. In short, the chilling effects are the point. theconversation.com/chilling-eff...

Alberto Fittarelli@fittarelli.com · 3mo ago

🧵Remember PAPERWALL, the sprawling disinfo network we @citizenlab.ca exposed in 2024 as run by a Chinese firm, Haimai? 2 full years later, it's still very active and expanding. In its quest to cover the whole globe, it is now focusing also on Australia, New Zealand, and India. Readers? Still zero.

PAPERWALL: Chinese Websites Posing as Local News Outlets Target Global Audiences with Pro-Beijing Content - The Citizen Lab

A network of at least 123 websites operated from within the People’s Republic of China while posing as local news outlets in 30 countries across Europe, Asia, and Latin America, disseminates pro-Beiji...

citizenlab.ca

The Citizen Lab@citizenlab.ca · 3mo ago

NEW REPORT ➡️ In collaboration with @icij.org, we identified two distinct actors aligned with the People’s Republic of China that have been targeting and impersonating journalists and civil society. Full report: citizenlab.ca/research/how...

Tall Tales: How Chinese Actors Use Impersonation and Stolen Narratives to Perpetuate Digital Transnational Repression - The Citizen Lab

In collaboration with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), we identified what we conclude to be two distinct actors aligned with the People’s Republic of China. Our findin...

citizenlab.ca

The Citizen Lab@citizenlab.ca · 3mo ago

🚨New research reveals how two sophisticated surveillance actors exploited the global telecom ecosystem and, for the first time, directly links combined 3G and 4G network attacks to mobile operator infrastructure. citizenlab.ca/research/unc...

Bad Connection: Uncovering Global Telecom Exploitation by Covert Surveillance Actors

Our investigation uncovers two sophisticated telecom surveillance campaigns and, for the first time, links real-world attack traffic to mobile operator signalling infrastructure. The findings expose h...

citizenlab.ca

The Citizen Lab@citizenlab.ca · 4mo ago

Senior research associate @emiledirks.bsky.social spoke with Domino Theory about Xi Jinping’s view of national security in light of U.S. and Israeli cyber operations in Iran: dominotheory.com/from-stuxnet...

From Stuxnet to Operation Epic Fury: The China-Iran Intelligence Nexus - Domino Theory

Between 2010 and 2012, the CIA’s spy network in China experienced one of the worst intelligence breaches in modern history, leading Beijing to reportedly execute more than 30 U.S. sources. While the e...

dominotheory.com