This report describes an inexpensive and technically simple phishing operation. It shows that the continued low adoption rates for digital security features, such as two factor authentication, contribute to the low bar to entry for digital espionage.

በዩናይትድ ስቴትስ ኦፍ አሜሪካ፣ በእንግሊዝና በሌሎች አገራት የሚገኙ የኢትዮጵያ መንግስት ተቃዋሚዎች የአዶቤ ፍላሽ ማሻሻያና የፒዲኤፍ ፕለግኢን በማስመሰል የተራቀቀ የስለላ ሶፍትዌር በያዙ ኢሜይሎች ዒላማ እንደተደረጉ የሚገልጽ ሪፖርት የሲትዝን ላብ ይፋ አድርጓል፡፡ ዒላማ ከተደረጉት መሀል መቀመጫውን በዩናይትድ ስቴትስ ኦፍ አሜሪካ ያደረገ የኢትዮጵያ ዲያስፖራ ብዙኃን መገናኛ፣ የኦሮምያ ሚድያ ኔትወርክ (OMN)፣ አንድ የፒኤችዲ ተማሪና አንድ የህግ ጠበቃ ይገኙበታል፡፡

Ethiopian’s penchant for commercial spyware is notorious, as is its pattern of digital espionage against journalists, activists, and other entities—many of which are based overseas—that seek to promote government accountability and are therefore viewed as political threats. Yet the Ethiopian government and others like it have faced little pressure to cease this particular strain of digital targeting.

This report describes how Ethiopian dissidents in the US, UK, and other countries were targeted with emails containing sophisticated commercial spyware posing as Adobe Flash updates and PDF plugins. Targets include a US-based Ethiopian diaspora media outlet, a PhD student, a lawyer, and even a Citizen Lab researcher.

Claudio X. González, the director of Mexicanos Contra la Corrupción y la Impunidad (MCCI: Mexicans Against Impunity and Corruption), becomes the 22nd known individual abusively targeted with NSO’s spyware technology in Mexico.