Citizen Lab staff and research in the news.
In an op-ed for CNN, security technologist Bruce Schneier explores the difficulty of attributing the cyberattack to Russia. In doing so, Schneier makes reference to Citizen Lab’s work in identifying the source of cyberattacks against activists and dissidents, including the United Arab Emirates targeting of human right’s activist Ahmed Mansour.
Citizen Lab Director Ron Deibert has authored a piece in JustSecurity on the FBI’s report on the Russian hacking of the Democratic National Convention (DNC). In the article, titled “The DHS/FBI Report on Russian Hacking was a Predictable Failure,” Deibert assesses the report itself, as well as the Obama administration’s response to the hacking, and its public handling.
Citizen Lab Research Associate Christopher Parsons joined The Agenda with Steve Paikin to discuss the controversial Bill C-51, anti-terrorism legislation passed by the previous Conservative government. He joined a panel to discuss potential changes to the law, which has been used by agencies like the RCMP and Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police to petition for new powers to access telephone and Internet data.
Citizen Lab Researcher Lotus Ruan was interviewed by VOA Mandarin on the recent release of the report entitled “One App Two Systems, How WeChat uses one censorship policy in China and another internationally.”
Citizen Lab’s Cyber Steward Network Partners from Asia and Latin America have released reports and been interviewed in the media on key censorship and cybersecurity issues.
Citizen Lab Senior Security Researcher Morgan Marquis-Boire joined the Ars Technica Live podcast series to discuss the rise of what he calls “digital authoritarianism,” an extension of the activities of authoritarian governments into cyberspace, and the steps he says citizens can take to protect themselves.
Senior Research Fellow Bill Marczak was featured in a Vanity Fair article exploring his discovery of the spyware used to target UAE dissident Ahmed Mansoor, detailed in a recent Citizen Lab report.
Director Ron Deibert spoke to CNN International on Citizen Lab’s recent report, titled “One App, Two Systems: How WeChat uses one censorship policy in China and another internationally.” Deibert commented on trends of censorship and surveillance in China, and Asian instant messaging applications more broadly.
The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) plans to send text messages to individuals who were present in the particular neighbourhood in which a homicide occurred, in an attempt to gain more information in solving the crime. Postdoctoral Fellow Christopher Parsons commented on the use and storage of this data.
In a recent speech, Ali Baba co-founder Jack Ma suggested that the Chinese government should use big data to help prevent crime, a view that resonates with the Communist party’s efforts to establish a system parsing citizen information online. Citizen Lab Senior Research Fellow Jason Q. Ng commented on Ma’s remarks in an interview with Bloomberg.
