Author: Ron
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✴︎ blogJail Time for Private Detective
Private detective who led a hacking operation against climate activists, short sellers and others sentenced Several years ago, we investigated a sprawling hack-for-hire operation targeting a cross section of civil society, lawyers, journalists, activists, & short sellers. That investigation resulted in the 2020 Citizen Lab report, Dark Basin: Uncovering a Massive Hack-For-Hire Operation. Now, a key…
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✴︎ blogMy statement on TikTok’s continuing references to Citizen Lab research
I am disappointed that TikTok executives continue citing the Citizen Lab’s research in their statements to governments as somehow exculpatory. I’ve called them out on this in the past, and it’s unfortunate that I have to do it again. Two years ago we analyzed the TikTok app. Our analysis was restricted to the application, and…
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✴︎ blogThe Autocrat in your iPhone
I am very pleased to bring to your attention a new article I have published in the January/February 2023 issue of Foreign Affairs magazine, entitled “The Autocrat in your iPhone: How Mercenary Spyware Threatens Democracy.” I had three objectives in writing this article: To publish an authoritative article on mercenary spyware. While there is a lot of news…
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✴︎ blogAbout the Citizen Lab’s CatalanGate Report
The Citizen Lab’s latest research reported — called CatalanGate — has precipitated a major controversy in Spain about the widespread abuse of spyware and the apparent lack of oversight over Spain’s intelligence services. This week, the head of Spain’s CNI was dismissed from her post because of the fallout from our report. The European Parliament…
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✴︎ blogChasing Circles
We are publishing a new Citizen Lab report today, entitled “Running in Circles: Uncovering The Clients of Cyberespionage firm Circles,” authored by Bill Marczak, John Scott-Railton, Siddharth Rao, Siena Anstis, and Ron Deibert Background The global telecommunications ecosystem upon which we are all heavily dependent was not invented from scratch with a single well-thought…
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✴︎ blogGlobe and Mail Opinion: COVID and Tech Insecurity
I published an opinion piece in the Globe and Mail. The link is here and I’m pasting the entire article below. The pandemic has made us even more dependent on a highly invasive technological ecosystem RONALD J. DEIBERT SPECIAL TO THE GLOBE AND MAIL UPDATED NOVEMBER 20, 2020 Ronald J. Deibert is director of the…
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✴︎ blogRESET: Reclaiming the Internet for Civil Society
I am really excited to be the 2020 CBC Massey Lecturer. It was a great honour to be invited and be among the great authors and thinkers who have inspired me over the years, including MargaretAtwood, Ursula Franklin, Jane Jacobs, Charles Taylor, and so many others. The lectures will be virtual this year, broadcast…
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✴︎ blogEndless Mayfly: an invasive species in the social media ecosystem
Bring up the topic of social media and state-sponsored disinformation, and most people think reflexively of Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. election. As the Mueller report recently affirmed, Russian entities operated a sweeping and systematic social media “active measures” campaign designed to sow division and support Donald Trump leading up to the election. But…
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✴︎ blogCitizen Lab on 60 Minutes
Doing the “60 Minutes Stroll” with correspondent Lesley Stahl Last week, 60 Minutes broadcast an episode entitled “Pegasus” focusing on the controversies surrounding Israeli-based commercial spyware vendor, NSO Group. The episode profiled Citizen Lab’s work, and featured interviews with myself and my Citizen Lab colleague, Bill Marczak. My Citizen Lab colleagues and I published an…
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✴︎ blogAnother Journalist in Mexico a Target of NSO Group’s Spyware
Today, Citizen Lab is publishing a new report, entitled “Reckless VII: Wife of Journalist Slain in Cartel-Linked Killing Targeted with NSO Group Spyware.” This report continues our investigation of the abuse of commercial spyware manufactured by Israeli company NSO Group. Working with our partners in Mexico, we are now able to confirm that Griselda…