Bill Marczak is a senior researcher at the Citizen Lab, a co-founder of Bahrain Watch, and a post-doctoral researcher at UC Berkeley, where he completed a PhD in Computer Science under the advisorship of Vern Paxson. His work focuses on novel technological threats to Internet freedom, including new censorship and surveillance tools. His expertise is in internet scanning and conducting digital investigations. His work has been featured in Vanity Fair, the New York Times, the Washington Post, on CNN, and on Larry King.
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Publications
Espionage Against the European Parliament
Member of Committee Investigating Spyware Hacked with Pegasus
We found that former Member of the European Parliament Stelios Kouloglou was hacked with Pegasus spyware while serving on the PEGA committee, which investigated Pegasus and other spyware abuses in Europe. Through forensic analysis of his device, we found that the attackers could have had access to confidential documents and committee deliberations.
Russia Breaks Into Human Rights Activist’s Phone With Cellebrite
We analyzed Russian activist Andrey Pivovarov’s phone, finding that Russian authorities used forensic extraction tools made by Cellebrite to gain access to his device. A document prepared by Russian authorities confirms that Cellebrite was used to extract information to aid in Pivovarov’s prosecution. Importantly, we found that authorities continued to use Cellebrite for political repression even after the company had cancelled its contracts with Russian customers.
Not Safe for Politics
Cellebrite Used on Kenyan Activist and Politician Boniface Mwangi
Following the widely-condemned arrest in July 2025 of prominent Kenyan opposition voice Boniface Mwangi, the Citizen Lab analyzed artefacts from devices seized during the arrest. We found that Cellebrite’s forensic extraction tools were used on his Samsung phone while it was in police custody. This case adds to the concerning pattern of the misuse of Cellebrite technology by government clients.
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