Powerful Android and iOS Spyware Found Deployed in 45 Countries

One of the world's most dangerous Android and iPhone spyware program has been found deployed against targets across 45 countries around the world over the last two years, a new report from Citizen Lab revealed. The infamous spyware, dubbed Pegasus, is developed by NSO Group—an Israeli company whi...

Powerful Android and iOS Spyware Found Deployed in 45 Countries

One of the world's most dangerous Android and iPhone spyware program has been found deployed against targets across 45 countries around the world over the last two years, a new report from Citizen Lab revealed. The infamous spyware, dubbed Pegasus, is developed by NSO Group—an Israeli company whi...

Edward Snowden on Protecting Activists Against Surveillance

“Turnkey tyranny” has never been closer. For some communities, it feels like it’s already here...

Google Faces Legal Turmoil After Location Tracking Debacle

Google is under fire from both legal teams and activists after reports emerged that the technology giant tracked customers’ movements, even when they opt out. The company has been slapped by a lawsuit, filed in the federal court last week out of California, alleging that Google is violating both...

NSO Spyware Targets Saudi Human Rights Activists and Researchers

Amnesty International, one of the most prominent non-profit human rights organizations in the world, claims one of its staff members has been targeted by a sophisticated surveillance tool made by Israel's NSO Group. The NSO Group is an Israeli firm that's mostly known for selling high-tech spywar...

NSO Spyware Targets Saudi Human Rights Activists and Researchers

Amnesty International, one of the most prominent non-profit human rights organizations in the world, claims one of its staff members has been targeted by a sophisticated surveillance tool made by Israel's NSO Group. The NSO Group is an Israeli firm that's mostly known for selling high-tech spywar...

The Effects of Iran's Telegram Ban

The Center for Human Rights in Iran has released a report outlining the effect's of that country's ban on Telegram, a secure messaging app used by about half of the country. The ban will disrupt the most important, uncensored platform for information and communication in Iran, one that is used...

U.S. Supreme Court Bolsters Mobile-Phone Privacy Rights

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in a decision that bolsters digital privacy rights of cellphone users. In a 5-4 vote, the court ruled law enforcement needs a warrant to obtain mobile phone tower records that can reveal a user’s location over time. The ruling was made on Friday in a case involving...

Gaza Cybergang – updated activity in 2017:

1. Summary information The Gaza cybergang is an Arabic-language, politically-motivated cybercriminal group, operating since 2012 and actively targeting the MENA Middle East North Africa region. The Gaza cybergang's attacks have never slowed down and its typical targets include government...

Onion Routed Cloud: ORC

Onion Routed Cloud is a decentralized, anonymous, object storage platform owned and operated by allies in defense of human rights and opposition to censorship. ORC is a volunteer run cloud storage network that protects users from surveillance and puts them in control of their data. Use cases: For...

Civil Liberties Activists Hit By Phishing Campaign

Digital civil liberties activists were hit with a barrage of phishing emails earlier this summer designed to wrest away business credentials. Activists with Fight for the Future, a nonprofit that’s campaigned against backdoors in mobile phones and for Net neutrality, and Free Press, a group that...

Twitter Bots Use Likes, RTs for Intimidation

I awoke this morning to find my account on Twitter @briankrebs had attracted almost 12,000 new followers overnight. Then I noticed I'd gained almost as many followers as the number of re-tweets RTs earned for a tweet I published on Tuesday. The tweet stated how every time I tweet something relate...

Privacy Activists Suffer Legal Setback In National Security Letter Case

Privacy activists suffered a legal blow when a panel of California appeals court judges ruled Monday the Federal Bureau of Investigation could continue its practice of secretly issuing National Security Letter NSL requests for customer data from communications firms. The case involved a challenge...

Mexican Govt. Allegedly Used Spyware Against Journalists, Activists & A Child

After the disclosure of sophisticated global espionage and disinformation campaign aimed to discredit enemies of the state, Citizen Lab researchers exposed the dirty game of the Mexican government and its politics. The report — "Government Spy: Systematic monitoring of journalists and human right...

Amazon Backtracks On Encryption Removal

Amazon reversed course on its unpopular decision to remove encryption from its Fire OS 5 tablets. Over the weekend, Amazon said, customers’ device-level encryption support will return this spring. The move comes after Amazon customers and privacy activists expressed outrage over the company’s...

Scarlet Mimic Behind Espionage Campaign Against Tibetan, Uyghur Activists

Researchers believe a single group is responsible for a series of attacks over the years to spy on Tibetan and Uyghur activists. For four years the group has used a cornucopia of spearphishing emails, a watering hole attack, and a backdoor Trojan to carry out espionage. Dubbed Scarlet Mimic, the...

Twitter State-Sponsored Attack Notification

Twitter’s decision to notify users when their accounts are targeted in state-sponsored attacks earned its share of praise. But Twitter’s silence in terms of specifics about the attacks—whether by choice or gagged by a National Security Letter—has foisted some anxiety upon those who were notified....

President Urged to Reject Mandatory Backdoors

One-off opposition to calls on Congress from FBI Director James Comey and NSA Director Adm. Mike Rogers to draft a legal framework that would enable law enforcement to access encrypted communication has been scattered at best. Experts have taken to their own forums to voice opposition to the...

USBKill — Code That Kills Computers Before They Examine USBs for Secrets

USBkill — A new program that once activated, will instantly disable the laptop or computer if there is any activity on USB port. Hey Wait, don’t compare USBkill with the USB Killer stick that destroy sensitive components of a computer when plugged-in. "USBKill" is a new weapon that could be a boo...

Detekt — Free Anti-Malware Tool To Detect Govt. Surveillance Malware

Human rights experts and Privacy International have launched a free tool allowing users to scan their computers for surveillance spyware, typically used by governments and other organizations to spy on human rights activists and journalists around the world. This free-of-charge anti-surveillance...