John Scott-Railton Profile picture
Oct 2, 2022 10 tweets 10 min read Read on X
BREAKING: journalists & human rights defenders hacked with #Pegasus in 🇲🇽#Mexico.

Years *after* spyware scandals & new President's promise that abuses were over.

THREAD 1/

Report by @R3Dmx ejercitoespia.r3d.mx
We @citizenlab did forensic validation: citizenlab.ca/2022/10/new-pe… Key Takeaways Mexican digital rights organization R3D (Red eOur technical validation of forensic artifacts collected fro
2/ Per @R3Dmx, #Pegasus victims were infected while working on:

❌Connections between Los Zetas Cartel & Mexican Army
❌Official misconduct in investigations into #Ayotzinapa forced disappearances
❌Human rights violations by Mexican Armed Forces.

Chilling. Ricardo Raphael  Raphael, a prominent journalist and author Raymundo Ramos Vázquez  Ramos has spent years documenting h
3/ Mexico was first rocked by #Pegasus scandals in 2017 under President @EPN.

We @citizenlab, @R3Dmx @socialtic & @article19org had found dozens of abuse cases.

When Pres. @lopezobrador_ took office, he promised hacking abuses were a thing of the past...
4 Mexico's #Pegasus scandals didn't stop.

The #PegasusProject also revealed that scores in the circle of @lopezobrador_ had been potentially selected for targeting while @EPN was in office.

Including now-President AMLO's wife & children. In 2017, the Citizen Lab, along with partners R3D, SocialTic
5/ Mexico has been one of the *most* notorious cases of #Pegasus spyware abuses.

NSO Group has has been confronted about this. For years.

Mexico's new president, touched himself by spyware abuses prior to entering office... had promised it was over.

Yet here we are.
6/ Yet again, journalists & human rights defenders of intense interest to the Mexican government got hacked.

Chillingly, some of their work was clearly of intense interest to cartels, too.

#Mexico has seen *half a decade* of abuses like this. Need for an Independent Investigation These latest cases, wh
7/ I urge you to read @R3Dmx's full report. Here's their thread on the cases.
8/ Another key find via @R3Dmx: Mexico did recent business with companies linked to prior #Pegasus contracts👇👇

Despite making strenuous efforts to deny any such business.
9/ A key detail: while previous Pegasus cases @citizenlab investigated in #Mexico involved finding SMS messages and 1-click attacks... these latest cases were zero-click attacks.

No action was required on the part of the victims to be infected.
10/ Of course NSO has a response that is not serious.

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More from @jsrailton

Jul 8
THE #EU parliament #spyware debate has kicked off, follow along with me.

( triggered by the hacking of a MEP investigating spyware w/Pegasus)

It kicks off as expected with Commissioner @dubravkasuica (Croatia) trying frame the issue as a national one (govs should investigate...not the parliament).

This is likely to be unpopular among MEPs concerned by spyware abuses.

Next up? MEP & spyware victim @KrzysztofBrejza 1/Image
2/ Next: MEP @KrzysztofBrejza, himself a spyware target is clear: mercenary spyware is a risk to democracy & institutions.

I've experienced it myself. Spyware is dangerous when in the hands of the wrong ppl.

A very powerful statement.Image
@krzysztofbrejza 3/ Strong statements by @alexagiussaliba: Every citizen has the right to privacy.

This issue needs to be clearly investigated.

Spyware is incredibly invasive. Image
Read 11 tweets
Jul 3
BREAKING: 🇪🇺EU lawmaker investigating spyware abuses was hacked with Pegasus.

Infected during key moments of the PEGA committee.

More proof that it's spyware open season in Europe.. yet nothing is being done 1/

Our @citizenlab forensic investigation: citizenlab.ca/research/membe…Image
Image
2/Your're a MEP on the PEGA committee.

You spend a year hearing bleak testimony from spyware victims.

Journalists..dissidents... politicians. Lives upended by hacking.

They you learn that you're also a victim.

Meet @SteliosKoul.

By @AntoanetaRoussi politico.eu/article/probe-…Image
3/ @SteliosKoul's iPhone was hacked with a Pegasus zero-click attack.

No link to click. No attachment to open.

One minute your phone is private, the next it's a spy in your pocket.

Access to all your files, camera, microphone.

Listening to meetings & your private life.Image
Read 11 tweets
Jun 8
BREAKING: NSO Group caught trying to hack across @WhatsApp. Again!

In defiance of 🇺🇸US Courts.

WhatsApp disrupted the Pegasus campaign & says it violates US Federal injunction they won against NSO.

Asks Federal judge to hold NSO Group in contempt.

Many implications... 1/Image
Image
2/ Back in 2019 @WhatsApp sued NSO Group for hacking 1.4k of their users.

NSO tried every possible tactic to dodge the case.

But lost spectacularly in 2024 and got hit with huge damages & later a permanent injunction against hacking WhatsApp.

reuters.com/technology/cyb…Image
@WhatsApp 3/ Despite bruising losses in American court...

And getting 🇺🇸US sanctioned...

NSO chose optimism & has been trying to persuade everybody that they are reformed & should be delisted

I think is the eventual goal = get Pegasus spyware into US policing.
timesofisrael.com/seeking-to-get…Image
Read 8 tweets
May 7
It is hard to denounce China's Great Firewall when European politicians are preparing to demand the same thing.

It always starts with a call to protect children.

But it ends with adults needing permission to share their political views.

Embarrassingly short sighted.
2/ Parents want to protect their children, but once you build & implement bones of a system like this, with government developed 'verification' apps you've loaded the gun & pointed it at free expression.

You also suppress innovation.
3/ The funny thing? Every dictatorial regime has struggled to fight VPNs..

So what happens? You wind up with motivated & well-resourced people circumventing your controls...

And a society where everyone simultaneously feels less private & like they should be self-censoring.
Read 5 tweets
May 2
PAY ATTENTION: China just figured out a global veto on who gets to speak.

#RightsCon is a massive tech & rights conference.

Thousands attend from everywhere.

It was scheduled for next week in #Zambia with their gov's full cooperation.

Then, 🇨🇳#China made a call. 1/Image
2/ Last Monday, the #Zambian endorsed #RightsCon. Again.

Then, pressure from #China came down hard.

Almost immediately, things went sideways.

Starting at the border...

rightscon.org/rc26-statement/Image
Image
3/ People were already flying in from all over the globe to #Zambia... thousands were to follow.

Suddenly the tone at customs changed.

Customs officials were telling exhausted & puzzled attendees that their conference was cancelled.

Meanwhile? Official silence.

Weird, right?Image
Read 8 tweets
Apr 9
BREAKING: You checked the weather this morning.

And you just told a surveillance company where you sleep.

Meet #Webloc, used by ICE, cops & foreign govs to track 500m+ phones.

No warrant required.

Our latest @citizenlab investigation + how to protect yourself 🧵/1Image
Image
2/ Heard of ADINT aka ADvertising INTelligence?

Your apps don't just show ads.

They stream of info about your GPS location + a unique identifier to HUNDREDS OF BROKERS EVERY SECOND.

The industry swears the data is "anonymous" but it's actually a Spies-eye-view. Of everyone.Image
3/ Companies peddle the BS that advertising data is 'anonymous'

They want to keep you in the dark.

Because, behind the scenes...your weather app is a blinking tracking beacon.

And then players like @penlink turn that beacon into a data flow.

And sell it to governments.
Read 15 tweets

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