The Citizen Lab

CALL FOR PAPERS: Free and Open Communications on the Internet (FOCI) 2025 is looking for two, four, and eight-page submissions on topics broadly relating to Internet freedom. Deadline for Issue 1 (virtual event) is November 8. Learn more: t.co/ZQuig3C6My t.co/Ce3cFSzRlx

#Apple seeks to dismiss its lawsuit against the surveillance firm #NSOGroup, citing concerns that legal proceedings could risk exposing its security practices to combat commercial surveillance tools. The Citizen Lab’s @RonDeibert shared his thoughts with @washingtonpost, “NSO Group is on the ropes, no longer the only firm in town, and nowhere near as formidable as they once were.” Read the article here: t.co/RZok1HoEMj

Cyberattacks against transnational activists in the US are rampant and women are disproportionately affected. In a new paper for @CLTCBerkeley, the Citizen Lab’s @nouraaljizawi, @gozdebocu, and Nicola Lawford, unpack the cybersecurity landscape, its vulnerabilities, and call on US govt agencies and big tech to do more to prevent, mitigate, and protect high-risk users. Read it here: t.co/WqsV4nUD1A

Despite being blacklisted by the U.S. Department of Commerce, there are no export controls in place for Waterloo-based tech firm #Sandvine. The Citizen Lab’s director @RonDeibert breaks down the lack of regulations and its implications in his latest interview with @CTVKitchener. Watch here: t.co/8NWr0RhIu2

Join us on Sunday, September 15 at 10:30am EDT for a thought-provoking discussion with lawyer and Citizen Lab fellow Lex Gill (@lex_is) in conversation with @cbcideas’ @NahlahAyed at @crowstheatre. Lex will explore themes of injustice, defiance, and what it takes to build a better world. Get your free tickets here: t.co/FY38WiXTrY #CBCIdeas

Join us on Sunday, September 15 at 10:30am EDT for a thought-provoking discussion with lawyer and Citizen Lab fellow Lex Gill (@lex_is) in conversation with @cbcideas’ @NahlahAyed at @crowstheatre. Lex will explore themes of injustice, defiance, and what it takes to build a better world. Get your free tickets here: t.co/FY38WiXTrY #CBCIdeas

Reminder: Join the Citizen Lab & @CLTCBerkeley for a panel on the #cybersecurity threats faced by transnational advocacy groups in the US that are targeted by state and state-related actors. Moderated by @RonDeibert, this discussion will feature Citizen Lab researchers @nouraaljizawi, @gozdebocu, & Nicola Lawford sharing key findings on the cybersecurity threat landscape, resilience, and areas for action and improvement to enhance the cybersecurity of transnational activists in the U.S. Register here: t.co/JKGZ11nUVg

Reminder: Join the Citizen Lab & @CLTCBerkeley for a panel on the #cybersecurity threats faced by transnational advocacy groups in the US that are targeted by state and state-related actors. Moderated by @RonDeibert, this discussion will feature Citizen Lab researchers @nouraaljizawi, @gozdebocu, & Nicola Lawford sharing key findings on the cybersecurity threat landscape, resilience, and areas for action and improvement to enhance the cybersecurity of transnational activists in the U.S. Register here: t.co/JKGZ11nUVg

Join us on Sunday, September 15 at 10:30am EDT for a thought-provoking discussion with lawyer and Citizen Lab fellow Lex Gill (@lex_is) in conversation with @cbcideas’ @NahlahAyed at @crowstheatre. Lex will explore themes of injustice, defiance, and what it takes to build a better world. Get your free tickets here: t.co/FY38WiXTrY #CBCIdeas

What can be done to protect refugees’ privacy rights and enhance their digital security? In an important piece published by the @TimepDC, @nouraaljizawi, senior researcher @citizenlab, discusses the massive data breach that compromised the personal information of 3 million Syrian refugees, including minors, residing in Türkiye, highlighting chilling security risks. Read it here: t.co/1sLHRf3PhI #datasecurity #transnationalrepression #Syrian #refugees

Social media platforms are a channel to exercise free speech, but what happens when speaking out online turns you into a target? The Citizen Lab’s @nouraaljizawi discusses the significance and the future of the rights to freedom of thought and expression with @NahlahAyed on @cbcideas. You can listen to the full episode here 👉🏽 Brave New Worlds: The Rights to Free Thought and Free Expression, Part Four t.co/k6qx5Wl5Ng #freedomofexpression

Join the Citizen Lab & @CLTCBerkeley for a panel on the #cybersecurity threats faced by transnational advocacy groups in the US that are targeted by state and state-related actors. Moderated by @RonDeibert, this discussion will feature Citizen Lab researchers @nouraaljizawi, @gozdebocu, & Nicola Lawford sharing key findings on the cybersecurity threat landscape, resilience, and areas for action and improvement to enhance the cybersecurity of transnational activists in the U.S. Register here: t.co/ax6IE7OlZR

TONIGHT at 8 PM: The Citizen Lab’s @nouraaljizawi discusses the rights to freedom of thought and expression @cbcideas with @NahlahAyed. 📻 Listen: t.co/DtmEhPWwSY

In the modern digital age, everything we do leaves a virtual footprint. The Citizen Lab's @RonDeibert and @lex_is discuss the right to privacy and its far-reaching consequences on our lives in the 21st century. 📻 Ideas with @NahlahAyed: Brave New Worlds: The Right to Privacy, Part Two t.co/oC5rDKmdkQ

TUNE IN to @cbcideas with @NahlahAyed tonight at 8 PM EDT to hear @citizenlab's @RonDeibert and @lex_is discuss the right to privacy and its profound implications on our lives in the 21st century, from digital surveillance to issues of sexuality and personal autonomy. 📻 Listen: t.co/bQdD4Ggtxf #humanrights #surveillance

Next week at the @APSAtweets 2024 APSA Annual Meeting & Exhibition, @citizenlab research associate @emiledirks will present a paper co-authored with @UofT associate professor @dianafutweets at a panel on transnational repression tactics of illiberal governance in the 21st century. Learn more: t.co/RfVkPXjdl7 Details on the panel here: t.co/6uG9xbHWXs #transnationalrepression #APSA2024 #uoft

Join the Citizen Lab & @CLTCBerkeley for a panel on the #cybersecurity threats faced by transnational advocacy groups in the US that are targeted by state and state-related actors. Moderated by @RonDeibert, this discussion will feature Citizen Lab researchers @nouraaljizawi, @gozdebocu, & Nicola Lawford sharing key findings on the cybersecurity threat landscape, resilience, and areas for action and improvement to enhance the cybersecurity of transnational activists in the U.S. Register here: t.co/ax6IE7OlZR

How will the UN’s proposed cybercrime treaty impact global cybersecurity efforts? The @citizenlab’s senior researcher @KateRobertson_ breaks it down in her article for @lawfare. #cybercrime #UNGA Read it here 👇 t.co/Muj1rFWrzb

Listen up ⏯️ @citizenlab's @PDXbek & @jsrailton discuss our COLDRIVER report and Russian cyber-espionage on @DecipherSec podcast 🎙️t.co/ovcTpb7Wy3… with @DennisF

Media, activists, former US diplomat were on Russia-aligned phishing campaigns' hit lists t.co/6jEDi7Ab2i @TheRecord_Media

Cold River group has been previously linked to the FSB intelligence service, by @rj_gallagher. “Russian security services show little concern with getting caught and will continue to target anyone, anywhere, to advance their goals,” says @PDXbek, senior researcher at @citizenlab. t.co/JxifUu0tZC via @business

🚨 NEW REPORT by @citizenlab in collaboration with @accessnow, @DeptFirst, Arjuna Team and t.co/JjT4QPjgGi uncovers a sophisticated and highly-personalized #phishing campaign targeting civil society members in the US and Europe, including Russian opposition in exile, NGOs, and media outlets. Report led by @jsrailton & @PDXbek with @edok_lotosov and @RonDeibert: t.co/D2W8g2Qz3y

Happening today 👇

Do you use Chinese keyboard apps? The Citizen Lab has found vulnerabilities in major keyboard apps that could expose keystrokes to spying eyes. Join Jeffrey Knockel, senior research associate and Citizen Lab fellow Mona Wang (@m0namon) for their talk at #DefCon32 on Sunday, August 11 at the Las Vegas Convention Center. t.co/54Z1OZEh08

Vice President #KamalaHarris finds herself at the centre of an online disinformation storm following @POTUS Joe Biden’s endorsement. “We should expect a full spectrum of disinformation,” warned Citizen Lab director @RonDeibert, providing a glimpse of how grim the US political discourse may become. t.co/rMTBbB9SqC

This week at #StratfordFest, the Citizen Lab’s director Ron Deibert and researchers Lex Gill and Noura Al-Jizawi join @CBCIdeas’ @NahlahAyed to explore efforts throughout history to imagine new possibilities and make them real - by focusing on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

DYK most #VPN services can actually make you less secure? Today @PET_Symposium, Benjamin Mixon-Baca will present research done in collaboration with the Citizen Lab about how VPNs can enable an attacker to act as an in-path router between you and the VPN server. The study identifies a new vulnerability called a “port shadow”. Read about it here: t.co/T0YcsDjFGq

Today, researchers from the Citizen Lab present their work and engage in a discussion on the importance of free and open communications over the internet at the #FOCI workshop co-located with the @PET_Symposium in Bristol. Jeffrey Knockel and Mohamed Ahmed will discuss their findings on the impacts of online censorship on large language models. #pets24 Read the paper here: t.co/pFL8UfbvCI

Hackers On Planet Earth @hopeconf kicks off today in NYC, and Citizen Lab researchers Jeff Knockel, Mona Wang, and Zoë Reichert will be presenting their research on vulnerabilities in the encryption ecosystem in China. More details about the event here: t.co/K3u68rOcEh

Happening soon, join the conversation 👇