John Scott-Railton is a leading expert on spyware, phishing, and information operations, with a global reputation for exposing sophisticated threats. As Senior Researcher at the Citizen Lab he leads the Targeted Threats team, collaborating with at-risk individuals and partners around the world to expose abuses and drive policy change. For more than a dozen years he has worked on collaborative investigations tracking and exposing digital attacks targeting people because of who they are, what they do, or what they say.
He is a regular expert voice in conversations about these topics, and has also testified to lawmakers in the U.S., Italy, Poland and the European parliament on the threats posed by spyware proliferation to national security and human rights.
He was the Founding Editor of the Security Planner which provides personalized expert security advice. He has also worked on ensuring connectivity in conflicts, including ensuring the free and secure flow of information during wartime. For example, he developed the Voices Projects, which helped bypass internet shutdowns in Egypt and Libya. He is a past fellow at Google Ideas / Jigsaw at Alphabet where he worked on products like the Phishing Quiz.
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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.
