The Citizen Lab analyzes a recent targeted malware attack against the Tibetan community spoofing the June 14, 2012 resolution of the European Parliament (EP) on the human rights situation in Tibet. While such repurposing of authentic content for use as a malware delivery mechanism is not unusual, this incident raises serious questions surrounding the use of legitimate political resources for illegitimate ends.

In the June 19 2012 issue of the World Politics Review, Citizen Lab Director Ron Deibert explores the role of Big Data and the growing political importance of the corporate giants that own and operate cyberspace.

The use of remote surveillance software against activists has been a feature of the ongoing conflict in Syria. Today, the EFF and Citizen Lab report on the use of a new toolkit by a previously observed attacker. This actor has been circulating malware which surreptitiously installs BlackShades RAT on victims machines.

“Thanks to Stuxnet, the Internet Freedom agenda, and the Arab Spring, cyberspace is now political space and matters a great deal in international relations,” writes Chris Bronk, Fellow in Information Technology Policy at the Baker Institute for Public Policy, Rice University.

Security Researcher and Citizen Lab Technical Advisor Morgan Marquis-Boire warns that this Trojan has been specifically crafted to target people attempting to evade government censorship. This blog post is written in Farsi.

Security Researcher and Citizen Lab Technical Advisor Morgan Marquis-Boire warns that this Trojan has been specifically crafted to target people attempting to evade government censorship. Last updated: May 30.

Citizen Lab Fellow Jon Penney writes that “among certain national-security and public-policy circles, there is a growing trend to approach the challenges of cyber-security and cyber-war through the lens of the Cold War.”

Citizen Lab Director Ron Deibert’s piece centers around the concept of stewardship of cyberspace.

In his piece, Professor Deibert writes about Canada’s role in securing cyberspace, quasi-national cyber armies such as the Syrian Electronic Army and the challenges faced by global civil society in cyberspace.

Citizen Lab Research Fellow Luis Horacio Najera’s commentary was featured in today’s Globe and Mail about World Press Freedom Day.