Citizen Lab
Coverage of Citizen Lab in the Nexus archive.
- EU lawmaker probing Pegasus spyware reportedly hacked by it, sparking outrage
An EU lawmaker investigating Pegasus spyware was reportedly hacked using the same software, according to Citizen Lab's analysis. The incident, which occurred in 2022 and 2023, has prompted calls for a spyware ban.
- European Parliament Member Investigating Spyware Was Hacked With Pegasus
A European Parliament member was hacked with Pegasus spyware while investigating the abuse of commercial surveillance tools. Forensic analysis confirmed attackers accessed his device.
- EU lawmaker investigating surveillance hacked by Israeli spyware, report says
A Greek former parliamentarian, Stelios Kouloglou, was targeted with Pegasus spyware, according to an analysis by Citizen Lab.
- Researchers say EU lawmaker who investigated surveillance was hacked by Israeli spyware
A former European Parliament member involved in investigating abusive surveillance was hacked three times between October 2022 and March 2023 using Pegasus spyware. The Canadian tech watchdog Citizen Lab reported the hacking, attributing it to the Israeli company NSO Group.
- Report: EU lawmaker who probed surveillance was hacked by Israeli spyware
A former European Parliament member, Stelios Kouloglou, was hacked using Pegasus spyware between October 2022 and March 2023 while serving on the PEGA Committee, which investigated abusive surveillance. The spyware was provided by NSO Group, an Israeli company blacklisted by the U.S. government.
- Probe finds former MEP investigating Pegasus was hacked with Pegasus
Former European Parliament member Stelios Kouloglou was repeatedly hacked with Pegasus spyware during his work on the PEGA Committee investigating spyware abuses. Forensic analysis by Citizen Lab found infections on Oct. 21, 2022, and March 6–7, 2023, during critical phases of the investigation. The spyware, linked to NSO Group, could have exposed confidential parliamentary communications and raised concerns about the inquiry's integrity.
- Spyware used against MEP investigating Pegasus abuses, report finds
A member of the European parliament was targeted with Pegasus spyware while investigating spyware abuses in Europe. Researchers at the University of Toronto's Citizen Lab found the attacks shared similarities with a previous campaign against exiled Russian and Belarusian journalists.
- Someone infected a spyware probe overseer with spyware
The European Parliament's PEGA Committee discovered that substitute member Stelios Kouloglou, a Greek journalist and former European Parliament member, was infected with Pegasus spyware twice in 2022 and 2023, as revealed by the University of Toronto's Citizen Lab. The infections occurred during critical phases of the committee's work on spyware abuses, highlighting failures to implement its own recommendations.
- EU Politicians Investigated Pegasus Spyware. Then It Ended Up on One of Their Phones
EU politicians were investigating Pegasus spyware when it was discovered on one of their phones. A European Parliament member called the incident a direct attack on the rule of law.
- ATF cancels phone tracking contract after lawmakers raise concerns
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives canceled its contract for Webloc, a surveillance tool using commercial location data for warrantless tracking, after concerns from Rep. Michael Cloud, Sen. Ron Wyden, and legal experts. The tool, made by Penlink, was used by various agencies but is now discontinued by ATF, with Wyden calling it a victory for constitutional rights.
- Russia Used Cellebrite on Jailed Activist's iPhone Months After Sales Cutoff
Russian authorities used Cellebrite's UFED forensic tools to break into the iPhone of detained opposition activist Andrey Pivovarov in June 2021, three months after Cellebrite stopped selling its tools and services to Russia and Belarus. The finding, published by Citizen Lab on June 25, is based on traces on the phone and an official Russian source.
- Meta accuses NSO Group of defying spyware injunction, files contempt of court complaint
Meta accused NSO Group of violating a court injunction by conducting a spearphishing campaign linked to its Pegasus spyware, prompting a contempt-of-court complaint. The campaign mirrored past attacks targeting journalists and activists in Jordan, and Meta argued that NSO Group's actions justify maintaining its status on the U.S. sanctions list. Researchers and lawmakers have expressed concerns about NSO Group's compliance with legal and security restrictions.
- Sensitive Words: Search Censorship, Tiananmen, “8 Squared,” and “64 + Division”
CDT Chinese editors compiled terms related to the June Fourth crackdown subject to search censorship on Chinese platforms. Censored phrases include direct references like '64', coded variants such as '8 squared', and terms linking to historical events and figures like Hu Yaobang and Tiananmen Mothers.
- Surveillance campaigns use commercial surveillance tools to exploit long-known telecom vulnerabilities
Surveillance campaigns using commercial tools exploited telecom vulnerabilities like SS7 and Diameter protocols, with researchers linking attack traffic to mobile operator infrastructure. The campaigns, attributed to unknown parties, manipulated signaling systems across multiple countries, raising concerns about global telecom security and accountability.
- Surveillance vendors caught abusing access to telcos to track people’s phone locations, researchers say
The Citizen Lab discovered two surveillance vendors exploiting cellular network infrastructure to track victims' phone locations globally. The vendors abused access to telecommunications companies to conduct widespread spying.
- Citizen Lab: Law Enforcement Used Webloc to Track 500 Million Devices via Ad Data
Hungarian domestic intelligence, El Salvador's national police, and U.S. law enforcement agencies used Webloc, an ad-based geolocation surveillance tool developed by Cobwebs Technologies and now sold by Penlink. The system tracked over 500 million devices globally.