In a research paper [pdf] published in the journal Review of Policy and Research, Citizen Lab Director Ron Deibert and Research Manager Masashi Crete-Nishihata discuss “the growing number of complex ethical and legal issues around cyberspace research, particularly in the area of security”.

Director Ron Deibert joined Al Jazeera’s The Stream via Skype to talk about a collective of pro-Assad hackers and online activists, who call themselves the Syrian Electronic Army.

Read the article and watch the video here.

In this op-ed article, author Jillian C. York discusses the tendency of activists to censor themselves using special tools like Tor, or staying off certain networks altogether, due to the knowledge that posting the wrong picture on Facebook can get them arrested, if not worse.

In this article, The Atlantic reports on the Syrian Electronic Army, an open and organized pro-government computer attack group that is operating with at least tacit support from the regime, who uses DDoS attacks, phishing scams, and other tricks to fight opposition activists online.

The Citizen Lab is pleased to announce the publication of a monthly Citizen Lab Briefing, which will feature latest news from the Citizen Lab and its related projects, articles about our new publications and information about our upcoming events.

The Information Warfare Monitor (IWM), a research collaboration between the Citizen Lab at the Munk School of Global Affairs, University of Toronto and the SecDev Group, an operational think tank based in a Ottawa, Canada, has uncovered an attempt to lure pro-revolution Syrian Facebook users into providing their login credentials by using a fake URL and login page.

The Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University has released three new publications as part of their circumvention project. Over the past two years, the Center has carried out a number of research activities designed to improve our understanding of the knowledge, usage, and effectiveness of circumvention tools as a means to promote access to information online in repressive online environments.

On Tuesday, August 16, CBC Radio Calgary’s David Gray interviews Rafal Rohozinski on the future of cybersecurity. Dr. Rohozinski is in Calgary to speak at the Globalfest Human Rights Forum August 17th at 7:30am.

Listen to the full interview here.

The Guelph Mercury newspaper reports that a Guelph-based tech firm called Netsweeper, which is known for making tools to control information abroad, is tightening communications at home. After giving several media interviews during its rapid rise in the burgeoning internet security sector, Netsweeper now not only refuses to speak to reporters, but also recently rejected a meeting request by Guelph MP Frank Valeriote.

The Canadian International Council (CIC) interviewed Mr. Jon Penney, a lawyer and Google Policy Fellow at the Citizen Lab, about a report recently released by McAfee, which contains “circumstantial evidence” pointing to the Chinese government involvement in what it claimed to be the largest series of cyber-attacks to date.