Targeted Threats
Back to ResearchInvestigations into the prevalence and impact of digital espionage operations against civil society groups.
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CBC: WhatsApp Attributes Hack of 1,400 Users to NSO Group Technology
Citizen Lab senior researcher John Scott-Railton discusses why WhatsApp is suing NSO Group after discovering their spyware was used to target 1,400 users—100 of whom were members of civil society—and why this is a significant bellwether.
Latest Research
Reckless Exploit: Mexican Journalists, Lawyers, and a Child Targeted with NSO Spyware
Uncovering an operation using NSO Group’s Pegasus spyware and Trident exploit framework to target Mexican journalists, lawyers, and even a minor child.
Tainted Leaks: Disinformation and Phishing With a Russian Nexus
Documents stolen from a prominent journalist and critic of the Russian government were manipulated and then released as a “leak” to discredit domestic and foreign critics of the government. We call this technique “tainted leaks.”
Who’s Watching Little Brother? A Checklist for Accountability in the Industry Behind Government Hacking
We are releasing a more comprehensive “checklist” consolidating our thoughts on how best to confront the lack of accountability in the commercial spyware trade.
Bitter Sweet: Supporters of Mexico’s Soda Tax Targeted With NSO Exploit Links
This report describes an espionage operation using government-exclusive spyware to target Mexican government food scientists and two public health advocates.
Nile Phish: Large-Scale Phishing Campaign Targeting Egyptian Civil Society
This report discusses the targeting of Egyptian NGOs by Nile Phish, a large-scale phishing campaign. Almost all of the targets we identified are also implicated in Case 173, a sprawling legal case brought by the Egyptian government against NGOs, which has been referred to as an “unprecedented crackdown” on Egypt’s civil society. Nile Phish operators demonstrate an intimate knowledge of Egyptian NGOs, and are able to roll out phishing attacks within hours of government actions, such as arrests.