News
Researchers Uncover Espionage in Mobile Networks
1+ hour, 49+ min ago (148+ words) The Citizen Lab Citizen Lab doctoral fellow Swantje Lange spoke with the Hasso Plattner Institut (HPI) about sophisticated surveillance campaigns being used to exploit mobile networks, sharing that "the mobile network is highly opaque and extremely complex." Lange also discussed…...
A New Study Shows How Ad-Based Technology is Used for Surveillance
4+ week, 1+ day ago (142+ words) The Citizen Lab Citizen Lab director Ron Deibert recently spoke with NPR's Rob Schmitz on All Things Considered about the Lab's new investigation of Webloc, a geolocation surveillance system that uses ad-based data to monitor people across the globe. Deibert…...
Bad Connection
1+ mon, 6+ day ago (316+ words) Research FAQ for the report "Bad Connection: Uncovering Global Telecom Exploitation by Covert Surveillance Actors" Unlike conventional cyber espionage campaigns, telecommunication-level surveillance is almost entirely invisible. Risks also arise because 3 G, 4 G, and 5 G protocols are used alongside each other....
The Citizen Lab Bad Connection: Uncovering Global Telecom Exploitation by Covert Surveillance Actors
1+ mon, 6+ day ago (1623+ words) Gary Miller and Swantje Lange This report is based on analysis in collaboration with multiple industry firms including the signalling firewall provider Cellusys, international signalling network provider Telenor Linx, telecom data intelligence provider Roaming Audit, and telecom network security firm…...
Uncovering Webloc: An Analysis of Penlink's Ad-based Geolocation Surveillance Tech
1+ mon, 2+ week ago (1724+ words) Location data collected from mobile apps and digital advertising can reveal habits, interests and almost any other aspect of someone's life. In this report, we uncover how a geolocation surveillance system called Webloc uses ad-based data to monitor hundreds of…...
Submission to the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians
1+ mon, 3+ week ago (140+ words) The Citizen Lab In June 2023, the Citizen Lab submitted recommendations on combatting mercenary spyware risks to the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians (NSICOP). The NSICOP report and submissions to the committee were published earlier this year. Our submission…...
The Perils of Privatized Cyberwarfare
1+ mon, 4+ week ago (197+ words) The Citizen Lab In an essay for Lawfare, Citizen Lab director Ron Deibert warns that the Trump administration may authorize private firms to undertake offensive cyber operations (OCOs), with major consequences for individuals and the global order. OCOs are actions…...
Austrian Interior Ministry Using Cobwebs Surveillance Software
2+ mon, 3+ week ago (260+ words) Citizen Lab research fellow Wolfie Christl spoke with Der Standard about the Austrian Interior Ministry's "900 K investment in Tangles, a surveillance software that gathers and analyzes data from across social media and the web. Christl and a Citizen Lab colleague…...
Graphite Caught: First Forensic Confirmation of Paragon's i OS Mercenary Spyware Finds Journalists Targeted
11+ mon, 2+ week ago (1069+ words) On April 29, 2025, a select group of i OS users were notified by Apple that they were targeted with advanced spyware. Among the group were two journalists that consented for their cases described publicly. The key findings from our forensic analysis…...