While the reports themselves are fairly technical, the crux of the report is that electronic hacking of Rona Wilson & Surendra Gadling took place for almost 2 yrs before they were arrested!
The attackers' goals: surveillance + incriminating document delivery. #BhimaKoregaon 2/n
Here’s more: Arsenal has connected the same attacker to different but significant malware intrusions, both in the #BhimaKoregaon case as well as defendants in other high-profile Indian cases! 3/n
Surveillance, to what extent? Arsenal found that even keystrokes from #RonaWilson's computer were being tracked and logged!
Between late '16 - April '18 (till the day of arrest), websites, passwords, emails, and documents: nothing was spared. #BhimaKoregaon 4/n
Also: no evidence to suggest that the "top ten documents" used by the prosecution against #RonaWilson were ever interacted with or opened.
In fact 22 out of the 24 files were delivered to a hidden folder on Mr. Wilson’s computer by malware and not by any other means! 5/n
Mr. Gadling's computer was also shown to have been similarly surveilled between March '16 - Oct '17! *No evidence* has been found to suggest that the 14 important documents used against him had been interacted with in any meaningful way. #BhimaKoregaon 6/n thewire.in/rights/elgar-p…
Arsenal has indicated that this is one of the *most serious* cases involving evidence tampering that they have ever encountered based on the seriousness of the allegations made and the timespan between the first and last incriminating document delivery. #BhimaKoregaon 7/n
In 2019, reports detailed that #Pegasus was used on lawyers representing the BK-16. It is essential that the National Investigation Agency, which is in charge of this investigation, take these reports of targeted surveillance seriously and assess the case in this new light. 8/n
Remember: hacking is already ILLEGAL in India!
At IFF, we're committed to advancing surveillance reform and increasing prohibitions on the use of malware.
Be a part of the movement and help us do the good work.
Is @BSNLCorporate injecting code into your browser? The answer is a definite yes! At IFF, we took a closer look at... what exactly the code does.
We've talked about it before, but we've found more information, and this needs your serious attention. 🧵 1/n internetfreedom.in/taking-a-close…
In May '19, we had sent a representation to @BSNLCorporate regarding these code injections, explaining their illegality under frameworks like the IT Act and Cellular Media Telephone Services Agreement signed by BSNL.
We didn't get an adequate response, so we filed some RTIs. 2/n
Although our complaints & incident reports received no responses, our RTIs did. @BSNLCorporate acknowledged the code injections, but refused more information on the basis of 'commercial confidence' violations.
The bottom line: code is still being injected into your browser. 3/n
IFF had filed six RTI applications in December '18 with the @PIBHomeAffairs to gauge the extent of surveillance conducted by the government. But MHA refused to grant the sought information then, relying on unrelated exemptions under the RTI Act, 2005. 2/n internetfreedom.in/iff-keeps-push…
The questions asked were merely, “How many people were surveilled” and sought no information that threatened national security or interfered with any ongoing investigations.
Yet, @PIBHomeAffairs refused to divulge the crucial data necessary for an informed public debate. 3/n
Repressive governments use spyware, seeking to invade the privacy of dissidents’ to know exactly what they do, when, where, and with whom.
Journalists and activists are major targets around the globe, and intimidation is the name of the game. #CybersecCharcha 2/n
The #PegasusProject and NSO — you probably know a little bit about them. But how much do you know about the booming surveillance industry? #CybersecCharcha 3/n
Petitions related to #Pegasus were heard by the Supreme Court today. The petitioners have been directed to serve copies of the petitions to the Union Government and the matter to be listed next week for further consideration.
Represented in Court by Mr Arvind Datar, Senior Advocate — with legal assistance from IFF — @RupeshKSingh85 & @IpsaShatakshi have asked the Court to declare the use of a spyware like #Pegasus as unconstitutional, and direct the Govt. to disclose all Pegasus-related documents. 2/n
On the basis of a leaked database accessed by @FbdnStories & @amnesty, explosive reports were published last month by an international media consortium that alleged that a spyware, #Pegasus, was being used to conduct targeted surveillance. 3/n
Remember the “Manipulated Media” episode? When @GoI_MeitY sent letters to Twitter asking it to stop conducting fact checks?
Well, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology has now admitted that the letters were not issued under any provision of the IT Act, 2000. 1/n
When @GoI_MeitY first issued its letter to Twitter in May '21, asking it to remove the “Manipulated Media” tag, we wrote to MeitY pointing out that nothing in the IT Act or Rules empowers MeitY to do this. And that this request had no statutory basis. 2/n
We also filed 2 RTIs with MeitY in June asking if it had directed Twitter to remove the tag & under which provisions, if so. MeitY’s response did not refer to any legal provision under the IT Act, although MeitY provided copies of 2 letters to Twitter. 3/n
PUCL is one of the foremost civil liberties organisations in the country! They've helped bring about several landmark judgments expanding human rights in India.
They were petitioners in the original 'Shreya Singhal' judgement & have been following up on #Section66A since. 2/n
Why, you ask? Because even after the 2015 judgement that struck down #Section66A as unconstitutional, authorities kept registering cases with it!