A state-sponsored advanced persistent threat (APT) actor newly christened APT42 (formerly UNC788) has been attributed to over 30 confirmed espionage attacks against individuals and organizations of strategic interest to the Iranian government at least since 2015. Cybersecurity firm Mandiant said the group operates as the intelligence gathering arm of Iran's Islamic … [Read more...] about Iranian APT42 Launched Over 30 Espionage Attacks Against Activists and Dissidents
Activists
Pegasus Spyware Used to Hack Devices of Pro-Democracy Activists in Thailand — The Hacker News
Thai activists involved in the country's pro-democracy protests have had their smartphones infected with NSO Group's infamous Pegasus government-sponsored spyware. At least 30 individuals, spanning activists, academics, lawyers, and NGO workers, are believed to have been targeted between October 2020 and November 2021, many of whom have been previously detained, arrested and … [Read more...] about Pegasus Spyware Used to Hack Devices of Pro-Democracy Activists in Thailand — The Hacker News
Hackers Planted Fake Digital Evidence on Devices of Indian Activists and Lawyers
A previously unknown hacking group has been linked to targeted attacks against human rights activists, human rights defenders, academics, and lawyers across India in an attempt to plant "incriminating digital evidence." Cybersecurity firm SentinelOne attributed the intrusions to a group it tracks as "ModifiedElephant," an elusive threat actor that's been operational since at … [Read more...] about Hackers Planted Fake Digital Evidence on Devices of Indian Activists and Lawyers
Meta Expands Facebook Protect Program to Activists, Journalists, Government Officials
Meta, the company formerly known as Facebook, on Thursday announced an expansion of its Facebook Protect security program to include human rights defenders, activists, journalists, and government officials who are more likely to be targeted by bad actors across its social media platforms. "These people are at the center of critical communities for public debate," said Nathaniel … [Read more...] about Meta Expands Facebook Protect Program to Activists, Journalists, Government Officials
ProtonMail Shares Activist’s IP Address With Authorities Despite Its “No Log” Claims
End-to-end encrypted email service provider ProtonMail has drawn criticism after it ceded to a legal request and shared the IP address of anti-gentrification activists with law enforcement authorities, leading to their arrests in France. The Switzerland-based company said it received a "legally binding order from the Swiss Federal Department of Justice" related to a collective … [Read more...] about ProtonMail Shares Activist’s IP Address With Authorities Despite Its “No Log” Claims
Israeli Firm Helped Governments Target Journalists, Activists with 0-Days and Spyware
Two of the zero-day Windows flaws patched by Microsoft as part of its Patch Tuesday update earlier this week were weaponized by an Israel-based company called Candiru in a series of "precision attacks" to hack more than 100 journalists, academics, activists, and political dissidents globally. The spyware vendor was also formally identified as the commercial surveillance company … [Read more...] about Israeli Firm Helped Governments Target Journalists, Activists with 0-Days and Spyware