The Citizen Lab is an interdisciplinary laboratory based at the Munk School of Global Affairs, University of Toronto, Canada focusing on advanced research and development at the intersection of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), human rights, and global security. Learn more »

In Focus

Bitter Sweet: Supporters of Mexico’s Soda Tax Targeted With NSO Exploit Links

This report describes an espionage operation using government-exclusive spyware to target Mexican government food scientists and two public health advocates.

[updated] Nile Phish: Large-Scale Phishing Campaign Targeting Egyptian Civil Society

This report discusses the targeting of Egyptian NGOs by Nile Phish, a large-scale phishing campaign. Almost all of the targets we identified are also implicated in Case 173, a sprawling legal case brought by the Egyptian government against NGOs, which has been referred to as an “unprecedented crackdown” on Egypt’s civil society. Nile Phish operators demonstrate an intimate knowledge of Egyptian NGOs, and are able to roll out phishing attacks within hours of government actions, such as arrests.

One App, Two Systems: How WeChat uses one censorship policy in China and another internationally

In this report we provide the first systematic study of keyword and website censorship on WeChat, the most popular chat app in China

Research News

Black Code Documentary in theatres April 14th, screening at Human Rights Watch Film Festival

The ‘Black Code’ documentary film, based on Citizen Lab Director Ron Deibert’s book of the same name, will be in theatres as of April 14th, 2017. It will also be screened as part of the Human Rights Watch Film Festival in London on March 10 and 11, 2017, and is to be followed by a discussion on both evenings.

Citizen Lab 2016 Report highlights and year in review

This post recaps Citizen Lab’s major research reports for 2016, which span issues surrounding censorship, surveillance, privacy, and cybersecurity as they relate to fitness trackers, political dissidents, social media users, and more.

Cashless Society, Cached Data: Security Considerations for a Chinese Social Credit System

The second post in this series examines a Chinese mobile payment app feature increasingly covered in foreign media: testing of what may one day be a nationwide official social credit system to replace its traditional analog counterpart. Our exploration of potential security, privacy, and other issues of such a system is meant to raise questions that can inform discussions about how it will evolve.

Cashless Society, Cached Data: Are Mobile Payment Systems Protecting Chinese Citizens’ Data?

This research series presents an in-depth examination of mobile payment systems, a rapidly evolving form of financial technology. We will provide an overview of how they are used in China–where they are taking off faster than anywhere else in the world–and what implications their security and data protection practices may have for millions of users, by presenting a case study on Alipay.

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Lab News

Black Code Documentary in theatres April 14th, screening at Human Rights Watch Film Festival

February 17, 2017 – 3:03 pm

The ‘Black Code’ documentary film, based on Citizen Lab Director Ron Deibert’s book of the same name, will be in theatres as of April 14th, 2017. It will also be screened as part of the Human Rights Watch Film Festival in London on March 10 and 11, 2017, and is to be followed by a discussion on both evenings.

Open Technology Fund Information Controls Fellowship 2017

February 7, 2017 – 4:22 pm

The Open Technology Fund’s Information Controls Fellowship (ICFP) is now accepting applications through its open call system, until the March 19, 2017 deadline. Citizen Lab is one of the host organizations for this year’s Fellowships.

Engineers for the World (E4TW) Fellowship

February 7, 2017 – 2:17 pm

The Division of Engineering Science and The Citizen Lab at the Munk School of Global Affairs has one position available for an Engineering Science student completing Year 2 or Year 3, for a summer fellowship.

Ron Deibert named in VICE Motherboard’s “Humans of the Year”

February 7, 2017 – 2:09 pm

Citizen Lab Director Ron Deibert has been named as part of the “Humans of the Year” series of VICE Motherboard, which profiles his work in defending cyber security through studies of hacking groups and censorship worldwide.

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