September 27, 2017 – San Francisco, USA Hosted by swissnex San Francisco and the Consulate General of Switzerland in San Francisco, the two-day event will focus on the cross-section of humanitarian relief and technological advances, fostering discussions around how digital tools can be leveraged to help vulnerable communities.
December 29 – Hamburg, Germany
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.
Citizen Lab Senior Research Fellow Bill Marczak and Senior Security Researcher Morgan Marquis-Boire were featured in an episode of Al Jazeera’s ‘Faultlines’ program, in an episode entitled “Crypto Wars: Behind the Encryption Debate.” They discussed attitudes concerning surveillance in the wake of the San Bernadino shooting as well as other terrorist activities.
Citizen Lab’s research were featured in programs on Middle Eastern democracy by Alhurra and the world of online mercenaries offering hacking services by VICE, respectively.
Citizen Lab Senior Research Fellow Bill Marczak spoke to ABC Australia regarding the proxy server for the remote intrusion software FinFisher found in Sydney, Australia.
Citizen Lab surveillance research on Hacking Team and FinFisher highlighted in articles on Motherboard, the Varsity, and the New York Times.
November 1-4 – Seoul, South Korea
Hacking Team, a Milan-based developer of “offensive security” technology that markets its products to governments and law enforcement agencies around the world, was significantly compromised when hackers leaked nearly 400 GB of its internal data, including emails, client files, and financial documents. The leak was announced via Hacking Team’s own compromised Twitter account, and the content made publicly available. Among other things, the leaked documents confirmed our findings that the company sells its software to several governments with repressive human rights records, such as Ethiopia, Sudan, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Kazakhstan, and more.
An article by The Verge on the persecution of Bahraini activists Moosa Abd-Ali Ali, Jaffar Al Hasabi, and Saeed Al-Shehabi features the Citizen Lab’s extensive analysis into FinFisher, a line of remote intrusion and surveillance software developed by Munich-based Gamma International GmbH, conducted by Senior Security Researcher Morgan Marquis-Boire and Research Fellow Bill Marzcak.
