Southeast Asia CyberWatch – July 2012
The July 2012 issue of Southeast Asia CyberWatch covers related developments in Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.
The July 2012 issue of Southeast Asia CyberWatch covers related developments in Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.
The Citizen Lab announces the publication of a detailed post analyzing several pieces of malware targeting Bahraini dissidents, shared with us by Bloomberg News. The analysis suggests that the malware used is "FinSpy," part of the commercial intrusion kit, Finfisher, distributed by the United Kingdom-based company, Gamma International.
OpenNet Initiative research has documented that web filtering applied by India-based ISPs is also filtering content for customers of an ISP in Oman. This “upstream filtering” is restricting access to news sites, political blogs and file sharing sites for customer’s of Omantel, who have limited opportunities for recourse. Combined with the significant filtering implemented by Omantel itself, this essentially puts users in Oman behind multiple layers of national-level filtering.
A roundup of cyber news from the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. This week’s post includes, WikiLeak’s release of information on Syria, cyber-defence in Iran, blogger arrests in Morocco, as well as cyber surveillance across the region.
Professor Deibert spoke with Radio Canada’s Wojtek Gwiazda about internet freedom and surveillance.
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.
The Canada Centre for Global Security Studies (Canada Centre) and the Citizen Lab at the Munk School of Global Affairs, University of Toronto (with the support of the International Development Research Centre (IDRC)) are pleased to announce the launch of the Cyber Stewards program.
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.”
In the June 2012 issue of The Walrus, Citizen Lab is profiled in a piece entitled “The New Cold War”.
Citizen Lab Director Ron Deibert’s piece centers around the concept of stewardship of cyberspace.