Citizen Lab Finds Cellebrite Tool Used on Kenyan Activist’s Phone in Police Custody

New research from the Citizen Lab has found signs that Kenyan authorities used a commercial forensic extraction tool manufactured by Israeli company Cellebrite to break into a prominent dissident's phone, making it the latest case of abuse of the technology targeting civil society. The...

​​Spyware Allows Cyber Threat Actors to Target Users of Messaging Applications​

CISA is aware of multiple cyber threat actors actively leveraging commercial spyware to target users of mobile messaging applications apps.1 These cyber actors use sophisticated targeting and social engineering techniques to deliver spyware and gain unauthorized access to a victim’s messaging app...

Apple Zero-Click Flaw in Messages Exploited to Spy on Journalists Using Paragon Spyware

Apple has disclosed that a now-patched security flaw present in its Messages app was actively exploited in the wild to target civil society members in sophisticated cyber attacks. The vulnerability, tracked as CVE-2025-43200, was addressed on February 10, 2025, as part of iOS 18.3.1, iPadOS 18.3....

WhatsApp says Paragon is spying on specific users

WhatsApp has accused the professional spyware company Paragon of spying on a select group of users. WhatsApp, the Meta-owned, end-to-end encrypted messaging platform, said it has reliable information that nearly 100 journalists and other “members of civil society” were targets of a spyware campai...

Journalists and Civil Society Members Using WhatsApp Targeted by Paragon Spyware

This is yet another story of commercial spyware being used against journalists and civil society members. The journalists and other civil society members were being alerted of a possible breach of their devices, with WhatsApp telling the Guardian it had "high confidence" that the 90 users in...

Qualcomm Urges OEMs to Patch Critical DSP and WLAN Flaws Amid Active Exploits

Qualcomm has rolled out security updates to address nearly two dozen flaws spanning proprietary and open-source components, including one that has come under active exploitation in the wild. The high-severity vulnerability, tracked as CVE-2024-43047 CVSS score: 7.8, has been described as a...

CISA and Partners Release Guidance for Civil Society Organizations on Mitigating Cyber Threats with Limited Resources

CISA, in partnership with the Department of Homeland Security DHS, the Federal Bureau of Investigation FBI and international partners, released Mitigating Cyber Threats with Limited Resources: Guidance for Civil Society. The joint guidance provides civil society organizations and individuals with...

U.S. Imposes Visa Restrictions on those Involved in Illegal Spyware Surveillance

The U.S. State Department said it's implementing a new policy that imposes visa restrictions on individuals who are linked to the illegal use of commercial spyware to surveil civil society members. "The misuse of commercial spyware threatens privacy and freedoms of expression, peaceful assembly,...

Unveiling The SuperBear RAT campaigns Targeting the Journalists

Threat Level Attack Report For a detailed threat advisory, download the pdf file here Summary A recently discovered remote access trojan RAT named "SuperBear" has come to attention as it is actively utilized by hackers to target journalists that focus on covering geopolitical developments in Asia...

New SuperBear Trojan Emerges in Targeted Phishing Attack on South Korean Activists

A new phishing attack likely targeting civil society groups in South Korea has led to the discovery of a novel remote access trojan called SuperBear. The intrusion singled out an unnamed activist, who was contacted in late August 2023 and received a malicious LNK file from an address impersonatin...

NSO Group Used 3 Zero-Click iPhone Exploits Against Human Rights Defenders

Israeli spyware maker NSO Group deployed at least three novel "zero-click" exploits against iPhones in 2022 to infiltrate defenses erected by Apple and deploy Pegasus, according to the latest findings from Citizen Lab. "NSO Group customers widely deployed at least three iOS 15 and iOS 16 zero-cli...

NSO Group Used 3 Zero-Click iPhone Exploits Against Human Rights Defenders

Israeli spyware maker NSO Group deployed at least three novel "zero-click" exploits against iPhones in 2022 to infiltrate defenses erected by Apple and deploy Pegasus, according to the latest findings from Citizen Lab. "NSO Group customers widely deployed at least three iOS 15 and iOS 16 zero-cli...

Israel-based Spyware Firm QuaDream Targets High-Risk iPhones with Zero-Click Exploit

Threat actors using hacking tools from an Israeli surveillanceware vendor named QuaDream targeted at least five members of civil society in North America, Central Asia, Southeast Asia, Europe, and the Middle East. According to findings from a group of researchers from the Citizen Lab, the spyware...

DEV-0196: QuaDream’s “KingsPawn” malware used to target civil society in Europe, North America, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia

April 2023 update – Microsoft Threat Intelligence has shifted to a new threat actor naming taxonomy aligned around the theme of weather. DEV-0196 is now tracked as Carmine Tsunami. To learn more about this evolution, how the new taxonomy represents the origin, unique traits, and impact of threat...

DEV-0196: QuaDream’s “KingsPawn” malware used to target civil society in Europe, North America, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia

April 2023 update – Microsoft Threat Intelligence has shifted to a new threat actor naming taxonomy aligned around the theme of weather. DEV-0196 is now tracked as Carmine Tsunami. To learn more about this evolution, how the new taxonomy represents the origin, unique traits, and impact of threat...

FinSpy Spyware for Mac and Linux OS Targets Egyptian Organisations

Amnesty International today exposed details of a new surveillance campaign that targeted Egyptian civil society organizations with previously undisclosed versions of FinSpy spyware designed to target Linux and macOS systems. Developed by a German company, FinSpy is extremely powerful spying...

Beers with Talos Ep. #74: Impacting civil society

Beers with Talos BWT Podcast episode No. 74 is now available. Download this episode and subscribe to Beers with Talos: If iTunes and Google Play aren't your thing, click here. Recorded March 2, 2020 We open up the show with a sugary sweet poem before talking about RSA and our annual trip through...

Consumer Data Privacy Rights: Emerging Tech Blurs Lines

LAS VEGAS – From drones to facial recognition, new technology applications are introducing unique consumer privacy issues for civil society — and U.S. lawmakers and legal teams are struggling to keep up. Privacy is a fundamental human right for consumers, but new ways in which data is collected a...

Facebook Sues Israeli NSO Spyware Firm For Hacking WhatsApp Users

Finally, for the very first time, an encrypted messaging service provider is taking legal action against a private entity that has carried out malicious attacks against its users. Facebook filed a lawsuit against Israeli mobile surveillance firm NSO Group on Tuesday, alleging that the company was...

Facebook Sues NSO Group Over Alleged WhatsApp Hack

Facebook has filed a lawsuit against Israeli company NSO Group, creator of the Pegasus spyware, alleging that it was behind the massive WhatsApp hack earlier this year. In May 2019, a zero-day vulnerability was found in WhatsApp’s messaging platform, exploited by attackers who were able to inject...