
Director @citizenlab, @munkschool, @uoft. OUT NOW: Chasing Shadows (https://xitter.cf/t.co/K61e3qMTk3)
toronto
Joined January 2012
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NEW @citizenlab report We uncovered an Israeli firm using online ads to run vast spy operation
This is the first-ever public confirmation of zero-click mercenary spyware delivered via targeted ads.
45 devices at @AJEnglish confirmed infected
citizenlab.ca/research/how-d…
profdeibert retweeted
New: We found cops who kept using Flock to spy on women after they left the force.
One used it for five years after retirement, spying on his wife during a custody battle.
Another ran searches while he was suspended (and later fired) after killing a 15-year-old boy.
🧵
NEW @citizenlab report (in collaboration with The Share Foundation)
We find more cases of Pro-Democracy figures in Serbia 🇷🇸 targeted with NSO Group's Pegasus spyware
citizenlab.ca/research/pegas…🇷🇸🇷🇸
And here is a report from @politico xitter.cf/POLITICOEurope/status/…
A Serbian prosecutor investigating alleged corruption surrounding a Trump real estate project in Belgrade was targeted with Israeli-made Pegasus spyware after speaking out about political interference and abuses of power.
vist.ly/5nytc
profdeibert retweeted
The possibility that EU institutions have been exposed to zero-click spyware should set off alarm bells across Brussels. Europe cannot claim to defend democracy while leaving its own democratic institutions vulnerable to spyware.
More @POLITICOEurope:
politico.eu/article/israel-f…
Australia's nuclear agency targeted with ads linked to spyware that infect devices without a click abc.net.au/news/2026-10-19/n…
profdeibert retweeted
Just how big was the Israeli “zero-click” malware attack?
@citizenlab researcher @billmarczak tells me, “The ads were at an enormous scale…hundreds of millions of impressions, meaning hundreds of millions of these ads were shown on devices over a period of a few months…even devices that don't get hacked, that aren't the quote, unquote real targets, there is still quite a bit of invasive data collection from those devices. So we're talking on the order of millions and millions of devices.”
profdeibert retweeted
Seen these ads for Akedo, an AliExpress “Sale”, or MyIPInfo? They’re being run en masse by an Israeli ads company called Discover-Tech as part of an espionage scheme we call AdFection, and they have the potential to infect you with spyware when (or even before) you see them
DiscoverTech has for years been secretly helping spyware developers place their hacking software on popular websites, researchers at Citizen Lab say, resulting in a cyberattack that targeted at least 45 devices at the news outlet Al Jazeera. nbcnews.com/tech/security/is…
Report: Israeli ad-tech firm enables spyware targeting of at least 45 Al Jazeera devices cpj.org/?p=628774 via @CPJMENA
Al Jazeera Media Network condemns the spyware attacks targeting a number of its staff, as documented in a Citizen Lab report released today. Al Jazeera worked voluntarily with Citizen Lab's researchers, and, as the report notes, that cooperation helped verify and publicly document these attacks. The Network has taken, and continues to take, appropriate steps to protect its staff and systems.
The targeting of journalists is an attack on press freedom and on the public's right to know. Those responsible must be held accountable.
profdeibert retweeted
Thousands of ads run by the same network that compromised devices belonging to journalists and staff at the Al Jazeera news network were also targeted at officials and employees at organisations including Nato and US chipmaker Nvidia. ft.trib.al/8z3kBlo
profdeibert retweeted
Thread 🧵
1/ NEW REPORT: Billions of advertising auctions determine in real time which ads we see on websites and in apps every day. Our latest research shows how the same data fueling this advertising ecosystem is being used to profile millions of users and silently infect targets with zero-click mercenary spyware, a novel attack technique we call "Adfection.”
Read the report: citizenlab.ca/research/how-d…
profdeibert retweeted
🚨🇪🇺 European institutions exposed to zero-click #spyware attacks
This is a hybrid attack on Europe’s security.
We need urgent investigation into possible exposure across EU institutions.
The Commission must finally act on our PEGA recommendations. 1/4
citizenlab.ca/research/expos…













