In what follows, I first provide a summary of the Citizen Lab’s recent investigation into the security of Zoom’s video conferencing application, and the company’s responses. I then discuss a broader range of digital security risks that are relevant to the work-from-home routines that MPs and their staff are following. Finally, I conclude with six recommendations.
The Citizen Lab has sent an open letter to Francisco Partners in light of the apparent misuse of NSO Group’s technology– a company in which we believe Francisco Partners has a majority stake– and to request timely action in regards to issues raised in previous correspondence.
The purchase of a $400 million stake in spyware company NSO Group by Blackstone Group LP has reportedly fallen through. Reports of the deal attracted critical attention from a range of organizations, including Mexican NGOs involved in investigating NSO, Access Now, and Business and Human Rights.
Lawyers representing the families of three slain Mexican women were sent infection attempts with NSO Group’s Pegasus spyware after questioning official accounts of the killings.
Covers possible due diligence failures at NSO Group, misuse by several customers, and an ongoing investigation by the Mexican Government.
The international investigation into the 2014 Iguala Mass Disappearance was targeted with infection attempts using spyware developed by the NSO group.
NSO Group’s Pegasus spyware and exploit framework were used in infection attempts against Mexican senators and senior politicians in June and July 2016.
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.”
Citizen Lab Director Ron Deibert has been named as part of the “Humans of the Year” series of VICE Motherboard, which profiles his work in defending cyber security through studies of hacking groups and censorship worldwide.
A group calling itself the Shadow Brokers has claimed to have hacked an elite cyberattack organization associated with the U.S National Security Agency (NSA), and is offering the stolen technology to the highest bidder. Citizen Lab Senior Research Fellow Claudio Guarnieri discussed the credibility of the claims with The Wired.
