Spyware

The Mexican government or army is reported to have continued to use Pegasus spyware against the cellphones of journalists and activists, despite a pledge by President López Obrador to end such practices. Press freedom groups said those targeted with the spyware had been investigating human rights abuses by the Mexican army. Their claims are supported by forensic analysis carried out by the University of Toronto group Citizen Lab. Mexico has been an avid user of Pegasus, indeed President López Obrador he himself was a target. After coming to office in 2019 he gave repeated assurances that its use would end.

China appears to have been stepping up efforts to exert ever greater control over use of the internet in the country. Kaspersky says Chinese YouTube users are being tricked into installing a booby-trapped copy of the Tor browser which collects information about anyone using it. Also this week, China is reported to have upgraded its 'Great Firewall' which controls access to the internet in the country. Great Firewall Report says the changes are designed to prevent tools based on TLS encryption from being used to circumvent the controls. Meanwhile, The Intercept has a detailed report on the surveillance state that China has created.

On a (slightly) more positive note, a member of the EU parliamentary committee examining the use of spyware has some robust comments. "The use of mercenary spyware in the European Union is Europe’s Watergate. We know that 14 EU member states had bought Pegasus, and it is likely all member states are using one or another brand of spyware," Sophie in 't Veld says. The problem, as she points out, is that the EU's "intergovernmental institutional architecture is totally not designed for this kind of situation." While the EU parliament has been vocal on the issue of spyware, the European Council of government leaders and the EU Commission have been deafeningly silent.