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Ron Deibert

@rondeibert.bsky.social
11K followers 737 following 788 posts

Director of The Citizen Lab at the University of Toronto's Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy Author of Chasing Shadows chasingshadowsbook.ca

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Ron Deibert @rondeibert.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Journalist and former MEP Stelios Kouloglou has filed a lawsuit against the Israeli executives of NSO Group, the manufacturer of Pegasus spyware. In July, @citizenlab.ca discovered Stelios' phone had been hacked with Pegasus spyware citizenlab.ca/research/mem... www.dnews.gr/eidhseis/pol...
dnews.gr
Νέα διάσταση στις υποκλοπές: Μήνυση Κούλογλου σε βάρος των Ισραηλινών υπευθύνων για το Pegasus - Dnews
Νέα τροπή στην υπόθεση των τηλεφωνικών υποκλοπών δίνει η μήνυση του Στέλιου Κούλογλου κατά των υπευθύνων της ισραηλινής εταιρείας NSO Group για την παρακολούθησή του με το κατασκοπευτικό λογισμικό Peg...
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Alondra Nelson @alondra.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
The idea that people want AI oversight to happen "all of a sudden" ignores years of research, warnings, and policy efforts. The delay hasn’t been a lack of awareness; it’s been because of years of industry lobbying against regulation, political resistance, and inaction.
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PressProgress @pressprogress.ca · 23/09/2026
Activists Win Pause on Data Centres in Mississauga, but Questions Remain About Provincial Regulation Mississauga "one of the first big cities to address this matter and push back against this data rush” pressprogress.ca/activists-wi...
pressprogress.ca
Activists Win Pause on Data Centres in Mississauga, But Questions Remain About Provincial Regulation
Mississauga
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David Kaye @davidakaye.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
to be clear, the admin is alleged to have deported AT LEAST 25,447 individuals TO COUNTRIES THAT ARE NOT THEIR OWN with, evidently, ZERO PROTECTIONS. this is a scandal and crime of historic proportions.
forbiddenstories.org
The Deportation Project Map
Between 2025 and August 2026, the Trump administration deported over 25,000 people to countries other than their country of origin. Very few of these removals were publicly announced by the US. The De...
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Ron Deibert @rondeibert.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
At @citizenlab.ca we spend enormous time labouring over the ethical and legal limits to our investigative methods (for good reason!) If we didn't, we'd surely be shut down. Meanwhile AI platforms routinely unleash their systems to hack left, right and centre *without consequence* 🤷‍♂️
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The Citizen Lab @citizenlab.ca · 23/09/2026
Join senior researcher @wchr.bsky.social at @re-publica.com in Vienna on October 2nd to discuss how government agencies are accessing behavioural data from online advertising for surveillance purposes. Register here: tickets.infield.live/event/re-pub...
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Ron Deibert @rondeibert.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
👍👍👍
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Ron Deibert @rondeibert.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Yikes! Toronto mayoral candidate Bradford using Israeli app that feeds supporters AI-generated comments www.nationalobserver.com/2026/09/21/i...
nationalobserver.com
Toronto mayoral candidate Bradford using Israeli app that feeds supporters AI-generated comments
The Victory App, a campaign tool built by the Israeli company LogiVote, prompted users to participate in a mission to post AI-written comments supportive of Toronto mayoral candidate Brad Bradford.
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Ron Deibert @rondeibert.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
NEW @citizenlab.ca report uncovers a covert influence op by Israeli firm BlackCore on behalf of the Angolan government. Lead author @fittarelli.com with a 🧵 👇 citizenlab.ca/research/bla...
citizenlab.ca
Research Note: BlackCore’s Influence Operations for Hire - The Citizen Lab
In this research note, we examine the digital infrastructure of BlackCore, an Israeli influence-for-hire company. We describe how we identified a BlackCore campaign consisting of a training program pr...
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Ron Deibert @rondeibert.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
A troubling development reported by @josephcox.bsky.social about Tangles and Webloc and ICE 🇺🇸 In April 2026, @citizenlab.ca published an extensive overview "Uncovering Webloc", which detailed as much as we could uncover about the firm at the time citizenlab.ca/research/ana...
citizenlab.ca
Uncovering Webloc: An Analysis of Penlink’s Ad-Based Geolocation Surveillance Tech
Location data collected from mobile apps and digital advertising can reveal habits, interests and almost any other aspect of someone's life. In this report, we uncover how a geolocation surveillance s...
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Raphael Satter @raphae.li · 05/09/2026
So more than 24 hours after we scooped the news that OpenAI’s agents had hijacked a small German wiki site and commandeered it as a comms platform, OpenAI acknowledges what it calls a “wiki incident.” www.reuters.com/business/med...
reuters.com
OpenAI acknowledges 'wiki incident' and need for more transparency around unintended AI behavior
OpenAI said incidents including a swarm of its agents hijacking a German site and using it as a springboard for cheating and other rogue behavior require more transparency.
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Ron Deibert @rondeibert.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
NEW @citizenlab.ca report, in collaboration with The Share Foundation, finds iPhone of Serbian student protestor hacked with NSO Group's Pegasus spyware This is the first documented Pegasus infection of 2026 citizenlab.ca/research/peg...
citizenlab.ca
Pegasus Spyware Infection of Serbian Pro-Democracy Student Activist - The Citizen Lab
In collaboration with the SHARE Foundation, the Citizen Lab confirmed that the iPhone of a member of Serbia’s student protest movement was infected with Pegasus spyware.
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Ron Deibert @rondeibert.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
One of the beautiful benefits of living in Toronto, Canada The view of #LakeONTARIO!
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Ron Deibert @rondeibert.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
Looking forward to giving a keynote address to SecTor 2026: "On Counterintelligence for Civil Society." See you there! blackhat.com/sector/featu...
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Lawfare @lawfaremedia.org · 16/08/2026
A new executive order authorizes U.S. private firms to conduct offensive cyber operations on foreign cybercriminals. In April @rondeibert.bsky.social explained why privatized cyberwarfare means more counterintelligence risks and would put civilians at risk. www.lawfaremedia.org/article/the-...
lawfaremedia.org
The Perils of Privatized Cyberwarfare
Privatized cyberwar will complicate oversight, create counterintelligence risks, fuel arms races and insecurity, and put civilians at risk.
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Ron Deibert @rondeibert.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
Re-upping my April 2026 @lawfaremedia.org essay on "The Perils of Privatized Cyberwarfare" www.lawfaremedia.org/article/the-... In light of 🇺🇸 Trump's new Executive Order authorizing US private firms to conduct offensive cyber ops www.whitehouse.gov/presidential...
lawfaremedia.org
The Perils of Privatized Cyberwarfare
Privatized cyberwar will complicate oversight, create counterintelligence risks, fuel arms races and insecurity, and put civilians at risk.
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Ron Deibert @rondeibert.bsky.social · 07/08/2026
WATCH: documentary produced by @nzz.ch on spyware abuses 👇 The doc includes interviews with @ciropellegrino.bsky.social , an Italian journalist whose phone we @citizenlab.ca discovered was hacked with Paragon spyware, and others. Full reel here (w subtitles): www.youtube.com/watch?app=de...
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Ron Deibert @rondeibert.bsky.social · 03/08/2026
"Democratic governments present themselves as committed to countering transnational repression, yet their increasingly restrictive migration policies may be helping autocrats achieve precisely what those efforts seek to prevent." fpc.org.uk/immigration-...
fpc.org.uk
Long Read | Immigration Policy: The Backdoor to Transnational Repression - The Foreign Policy Centre
Democratic governments are stepping up efforts to combat transnational repression, but restrictive immigration policies may inadvertently help authoritarian regimes target dissidents.
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Ron Deibert @rondeibert.bsky.social · 27/07/2026
Big news for spyware accountability in the UK 🇬🇧, where judges continue to rule in favour of dissidents and dismiss governments' arguments for sovereign immunity 👇 www.reuters.com/world/bahrai...
reuters.com
Bahrain loses bid to block dissidents' spyware lawsuit in UK
Bahrain cannot claim state immunity to block a lawsuit brought in Britain by two ​dissidents who say its government hacked their laptops with ‌spyware, the United Kingdom's Supreme Court ruled on Mond...
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Ron Deibert @rondeibert.bsky.social · 26/07/2026
Not a single genuine public interest based argument here. It's entirely corporate players framing their competing private commercial interests with window-dressing allusions to "safety" or "innovation" or "democratization" www.nytimes.com/2026/07/25/t...
nytimes.com
Silicon Valley Splits Over Closing the Borders to Chinese A.I.
Anthropic and OpenAI are clashing with the rest of the tech industry over whether “open-source” models from China should be freely available or restricted.
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Ron Deibert @rondeibert.bsky.social · 24/07/2026
Canadian government urged to block data-sharing deal between Thomson Reuters and US ICE www.theguardian.com/world/2026/j...
theguardian.com
Canadian government urged to block data-sharing deal between Thomson Reuters and US ICE
ICE will pay Canadian media giant US$125m to use its investigative database to identify ‘immigration fraud’
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Ron Deibert @rondeibert.bsky.social · 22/07/2026
Yet another short-term cash grab that will likely come back to haunt AKA "moralizing" is out of style; let's win bigly at any expense Canada's AI champion Cohere in partnership with the UAE www.businesswire.com/news/home/20...
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Ron Deibert @rondeibert.bsky.social · 22/07/2026
That's not good www.wired.com/story/openai...
wired.com
OpenAI Models Escaped Containment and Hacked Hugging Face
The cybersecurity-focused models, including GPT-5.6 Sol, broke out of a testing sandbox, exploited a zero-day, and gained access to the open internet to pull off the attack.
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Ron Deibert @rondeibert.bsky.social · 20/07/2026
U.S. Sought Phone Records of Times Journalists *and Their Relatives* (!!) over Reporting on Trump's Audacious "Graft Jet" from Qatar www.nytimes.com/2026/07/20/b...
nytimes.com
Trump Administration Sought Phone Records of Times Journalists and Their Relatives
The government is aggressively seeking the confidential sources of Times reporters who wrote about the president’s new Air Force One. The Times has asked a judge to quash the subpoenas.
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Ron Deibert @rondeibert.bsky.social · 20/07/2026
Obey or Die
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Ron Deibert @rondeibert.bsky.social · 18/07/2026
Canadian 🇨🇦 forensic company Magnet suing a former employee for disclosing an Apple zero-day the company was hoarding & exploiting to crack iPhones "the public disclosure...alerted Apple to the flaw and allowed it to be..fixed, reducing its value..." www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
bloomberg.com
IPhone Hacking Firm Sues Ex-Worker Over Alleged Theft of Secrets
Magnet Forensics Inc., a Canadian cybersecurity firm, accused a former contractor of sharing trade secrets about a previously unknown flaw used to hack iPhones with a rival firm.
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The Citizen Lab @citizenlab.ca · 17/07/2026
WATCH: Last week, the European Parliament had a debate on #spyware after we found that a former MEP's phone was hacked with #Pegasus. The consensus: the crisis is getting worse. @hneumannmep.bsky.social @saskiabricmont.bsky.social @lukassiepermdep.bsky.social @danusenerudova.bsky.social
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Ron Deibert @rondeibert.bsky.social · 16/07/2026
Canada's 🇨🇦 proposed lawful access law (Bill C22) is so bad it even has US Senators (like @wyden.senate.gov) worried it will create national security spying risks for Americans 🇺🇸! www.wyden.senate.gov/imo/media/do...
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Ron Deibert @rondeibert.bsky.social · 15/07/2026
They wanted to hold Exxon accountable. Then they got hacked. | grist.org/article/exxo... Great piece by @hilarybeaumont.bsky.social @grist.org on targeted espionage against climate activists, following up on our @citizenlab.ca Dark Basin investigation (citizenlab.ca/research/dar...)
grist.org
They wanted to hold Exxon accountable. Then they got hacked.
A decade after climate activists' emails were breached, a court case is shedding new light on who allegedly orchestrated the hacking.
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Ron Deibert @rondeibert.bsky.social · 15/07/2026
knightcolumbia.org/content/fede...
knightcolumbia.org
Federal Court Suspends Trump Immigration Policy Targeting Technology Researchers
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Ron Deibert @rondeibert.bsky.social · 11/07/2026
Like all authoritarian regimes, Trump's is using law enforcement to target and intimidate investigative journalists in increasingly brazen ways www.nytimes.com/2026/07/11/b...
nytimes.com
Times Journalists Subpoenaed as Trump Escalates Pressure on Media (Gift Article)
The Justice Department is seeking to compel testimony from reporters who wrote about the new Air Force One. The Times called the move a “brazen act.”
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Ron Deibert @rondeibert.bsky.social · 07/07/2026
Greek wiretapping victims sue spyware firm Intellexa for damages www.reuters.com/legal/govern...
reuters.com
Greek wiretapping victims sue spyware firm Intellexa for damages
Eight victims of a Greek wiretapping scandal have sued the Athens-based surveillance firm Intellexa SA and individuals believed to be linked to it, seeking €1 ​million ($1.1 million) each for moral ha...
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Ron Deibert @rondeibert.bsky.social · 07/07/2026
Taiwanese authorities charge executives who helped China’s cyber spies target ICIJ network The probe corroborates @icij.org & @citizenlab.ca findings that attacks against journalists were part of a coordinated espionage campaign sponsored by Beijing. www.icij.org/investigatio...
icij.org
Taiwanese authorities charge executives who helped China’s cyber spies target ICIJ network - ICIJ
The Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau probe corroborates ICIJ and Citizen Lab’s findings that attacks against journalists were part of a coordinated espionage campaign sponsored by Beijing.
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Ron Deibert @rondeibert.bsky.social · 07/07/2026
EU 🇪🇺 urged to act after Pegasus infects phone of spyware inquiry MEP Good overview our latest @citizenlab.ca report and its growing impact 👇 www.theregister.com/security/202...
theregister.com
EU urged to act after Pegasus infects phone of spyware inquiry MEP
Campaigners demand investigation and long-delayed action on PEGA Committee recommendations
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Ron Deibert @rondeibert.bsky.social · 06/07/2026
cdt.org/insights/joi...
cdt.org
Joint Statement: Pegasus in the European Parliament, the EU Must Act Now
CDT Europe is publishing a joint statement with civil society organisations and individual signatories calling on the EU institutions to regulate spyware technologies after the 2026 Citizen Lab revela...
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Natalia Krapiva 🕊️👩🏻‍💻 @natynettle.bsky.social · 06/07/2026
5/ @accessnow.org and 30+ civil society orgs & individuals, incl. @cdteu.org & EDRi, are calling on the EU to: 🔹 Launch an independent investigation 🔹 Provide effective remedies to victims 🔹 Fully implement the EU PEGA Committee recommendations Read our full PR and recommendations below:
t.co
https://www.accessnow.org/press-release/same-government-more-victims-access-now-calls-for-an-urgent-investigation-into-hacking-of-mep/
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Natalia Krapiva 🕊️👩🏻‍💻 @natynettle.bsky.social · 06/07/2026
Former MEP was hacked by the same gov behind the Pegasus attacks we exposed 2 years ago! @citizenlab.ca revealed that Stelios Kouloglou, former EU PEGA Committee member, was targeted by the same operator that hacked several Russian- & Belarusian-speaking journalists + activists living in EU 🧵1/
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Ron Deibert @rondeibert.bsky.social · 03/07/2026
Probe finds former MEP investigating Pegasus was hacked with Pegasus The revelation raises questions about whether the work of the Parliament’s inquiry committee was compromised. www.politico.eu/article/prob...
politico.eu
Probe finds former MEP investigating Pegasus was hacked with Pegasus
The revelation raises questions about whether the work of the Parliament’s inquiry committee was compromised.
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Ron Deibert @rondeibert.bsky.social · 03/07/2026
Former European Parliament Member Stelios Kouloglou Targeted by Pegasus While Probing Europe's Illegal Surveillance Scandal - Dnews www.dnews.gr/eidhseis/new...
dnews.gr
Former European Parliament Member Stelios Kouloglou Targeted by Pegasus While Probing Europe's Illegal Surveillance Scandal - Dnews
Kouloglou's mobile phone was infected at least twice with Pegasus, the sophisticated spyware developed by the Israeli company NSO Group. New findings have added a troubling twist to Europe's...
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Ron Deibert @rondeibert.bsky.social · 03/07/2026
Politician who investigated spyware abuses had his phone hacked with Pegasus spyware | @lorenzofb.bsky.social techcrunch.com/2026/07/02/p...
techcrunch.com
Politician who investigated spyware abuses had his phone hacked with Pegasus spyware | TechCrunch
A government customer of NSO Group used the company's Pegasus spyware to hack into the phone of a European politician, who at the time was serving on an EU committee tasked with investigating the spyw...
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Ron Deibert @rondeibert.bsky.social · 03/07/2026
Spyware found on phone of European Parliament member probing it @suzannesmalley.bsky.social therecord.media/pegasus-spyw...
therecord.media
Spyware found on phone of European Parliament member probing it
Stelios Kouloglou, formerly a member of the European Parliament's committee investigation abuses of commercial spyware, was twice infected with Pegasus while serving, researchers said.
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Ron Deibert @rondeibert.bsky.social · 03/07/2026
EU Politicians Investigated Pegasus Spyware. Then It Ended Up on One of Their Phones www.wired.com/story/eu-pol...
wired.com
EU Politicians Investigated Pegasus Spyware. Then It Ended Up on One of Their Phones
“It is a direct attack on the rule of law,” says one European Parliament member of the new findings from Citizen Lab.
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Eliza Triantafillou @etriantafillou.bsky.social · 03/07/2026
📌 «Είναι ειρωνικό ότι ένα μέλος της επιτροπής που ήταν επιφορτισμένη με την έρευνα για το Pegasus έγινε το ίδιο στόχος του [...] Pegasus. Κάποιος, κάπου, πιθανότατα ήθελε [...] να μάθει τι συνέβαινε σε αυτήν την επιτροπή», λέει ο διευθυντής του Citizen Lab @rondeibert.bsky.social στο inside story.
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Ron Deibert @rondeibert.bsky.social · 03/07/2026
Researchers @citizenlab.ca say EU lawmaker who investigated surveillance was hacked by Israeli spyware @raphae.li www.reuters.com/world/middle...
reuters.com
Researchers say EU lawmaker who investigated surveillance was hacked by Israeli spyware
A former member of the European Parliament who served ​on a committee investigating abusive surveillance was himself hacked using an Israeli-made spy tool, a Canadian tech watchdog group ‌said on Frid...
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Ron Deibert @rondeibert.bsky.social · 03/07/2026
Greek Politician Investigating Spyware Had Mobile Phone Hacked www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
bloomberg.com
Greek Politician Investigating Spyware Had Mobile Phone Hacked
The mobile phone of a Greek politician was repeatedly hacked by spyware while he was working on a European Parliament investigation into sellers of the surveillance technology, new research has found.
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Ron Deibert @rondeibert.bsky.social · 03/07/2026
L’eurodéputé Stelios Kouloglou chargé d’enquêter sur Pegasus lui-même visé par le logiciel espion www.lemonde.fr/pixels/artic...
lemonde.fr
L’eurodéputé Stelios Kouloglou chargé d’enquêter sur Pegasus lui-même visé par le logiciel espion
Des analyses menées sur le téléphone de l’ancien élu grec ont révélé des traces d’« infection » par le logiciel de NSO Group, alors qu’il participait à une commission d’enquête sur ce puissant mouchar...
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Ron Deibert @rondeibert.bsky.social · 03/07/2026
Spyware used against MEP investigating Pegasus abuses, @citizenlab.ca report finds @skirchy.bsky.social www.theguardian.com/world/2026/j...
theguardian.com
Spyware used against MEP investigating Pegasus abuses, report finds
Researchers say Stelios Kouloglou’s device was compromised after he joined European parliamentary committee
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Eliza Triantafillou @etriantafillou.bsky.social · 03/07/2026
💥 Στόχος παρακολούθησης με #Pegasus ο Στέλιος Κούλογλου ως ευρωβουλευτής 👉 Το κινητό του παγιδεύθηκε με το κατασκοπευτικό λογισμικό της #NSO δύο φορές, χωρίς καν να χρειαστεί να πατήσει κάποιο λινκ.
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Ron Deibert @rondeibert.bsky.social · 03/07/2026
NEW @citizenlab.ca report: Member of 🇪🇺 Euro Parliamentary committee (#PEGA) tasked with investigating spyware abuses himself hacked with Pegasus spyware 👇 citizenlab.ca/research/mem...
citizenlab.ca
Espionage Against the European Parliament: Member of Committee Investigating Spyware Hacked with Pegasus - The Citizen Lab
We found that former Member of the European Parliament Stelios Kouloglou was hacked with Pegasus spyware while serving on the PEGA committee, which investigated Pegasus and other spyware abuses in Eur...
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The Citizen Lab @citizenlab.ca · 02/07/2026
In “How to Combat Transnational Repression,” published in @jodemocracy.bsky.social, Citizen Lab researchers @sanstis.bsky.social and @mmichae1sen.bsky.social write about the lack of accountability for perpetrators of transnational repression. Read: www.journalofdemocracy.org/articles/how...
journalofdemocracy.org
How to Combat Transnational Repression | Journal of Democracy
Authoritarians actively threaten, intimidate, and murder exiles and opponents wherever they find them. While justice for victims is hard won, it is possible. Here is how democracies can push back.
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