In an interview with Canada’s International Development Research Centre and Canadian Geographic, Citizen Lab Director Ron Deibert explained the work of the Cyber Stewards Network (CSN), which aims to increases cybersecurity in the global south, and conducts advocacy campaigns surrounding the protection of human rights in the digital sphere.

Citizen Lab’s Cyber Steward Network Partners from Asia and Latin America have released reports and been interviewed in the media on key censorship and cybersecurity issues.

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.

Director Ron Deibert spoke to CNN International on Citizen Lab’s recent report, titled “One App, Two Systems: How WeChat uses one censorship policy in China and another internationally.” Deibert commented on trends of censorship and surveillance in China, and Asian instant messaging applications more broadly.

Cyber Stewards network Partners hosted workshops, launched reports, and attended programming at the 2016 Internet Governance Forum in Guadalajara, Mexico from December 6-9, 2016.

In this report we provide the first systematic study of keyword and website censorship on WeChat, the most popular chat app in China

In this report we track a malware operation targeting members of the Tibetan Parliament that used known and patched exploits to deliver a custom backdoor known as KeyBoy. We analyze multiple versions of KeyBoy revealing a development cycle focused on avoiding basic antivirus detection.

November 10 – Toronto, Canada

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.