Blue Coat Devices capable of filtering, censorship, and surveillance are being used around the world. 61 of these Blue Coat appliances are on public or government networks in countries with a history of concerns over human rights, surveillance, and censorship. Our findings support the need for national and international scrutiny of Blue Coat implementations in the countries we have identified, and a closer look at the global proliferation of “dual-use” information and communication technologies.

Citizen Lab joined a global coalition of NGOs to call for the withdrawal of censorship plans in Pakistan.

The OpenNet Initiative (ONI) is pleased to release In the Name of God: Faith Based Internet Censorship in Majority Muslim Countries. This occasional paper analyzes the Internet censorship policies and practices of majority Muslim countries and finds that in many of these countries online information controls are primarily based on the Islamic faith and interpretations of its instructions

In order to pursue justice against spyware manufacturers such as the NSO Group and the governments that use this technology, victims must overcome significant legal challenges. Speaking with CyberScoop, John Scott-Railton, senior researcher at The Citizen Lab, discusses the challenges surrounding litigation, U.S. laws, and jurisdictional issues for victims seeking remedies. 

Apple has decided to drop its lawsuit against commercial spyware vendor NSO Group, citing a shifting risk landscape that could risk revealing the security methods used to combat commercial surveillance tools.

In a joint investigation with Access Now, we found that seven Russian and Belarusian-speaking independent journalists and opposition activists based in Europe were targeted and/or infected with NSO Group’s Pegasus mercenary spyware.

In an investigative collaboration with Access Now, the Citizen Lab has analyzed forensic artifacts from the iPhone of award-winning exiled Russian investigative journalist Galina Timchenko and found with high confidence that on or around February 10th, 2023 it was infected with NSO Group’s Pegasus spyware. 

Our investigation uncovered an extensive Pegasus hacking operation against pro-democracy campaigners in Thailand. At least 30 forensically-confirmed victims of NSO Group’s Pegasus spyware between October 2020 and November 2021.

Phones belonging to four Jordanian human rights defenders, lawyers, and journalists were hacked with NSO Group’s Pegasus spyware between August 2019 and December 2021. We assess that at least two of the four targets were hacked by Pegasus operators primarily focused on Jordan, based on SMS messages containing Pegasus links that map to a cluster of domain names focusing on Jordanian themes.

Our forensic analysis confirms that phones belonging to three individuals in Bahrain were hacked in 2021 with NSO Group’s Pegasus spyware.