Citizen Lab: Israeli spy programs Candiru used to attack freedom fighters | Business and Economic Affairs

The University of Toronto’s Citizen Lab Lab, which oversees fraud and illicit enlightenment, says that at least 100, journalists and non-governmental organizations in ten countries have been victimized by spyware programs developed by the Israeli company Candiru.

At least 100 human rights activists, journalists, and non-governmental organizations in ten countries have been targeted by Israeli spy agency Candiru, according to cyber security researchers at the University of Toronto’s Citizen Lab, which monitors smuggling and illicit monitoring. .

Using two complexes in Windows Corp. for Windows, cyber operators in Saudi Arabia, Israel, Hungary, Indonesia and elsewhere purchased and installed remote security programs developed by Candiru, according to the researchers. The device was used “correctly” against the target of computers, mobile phones, architecture and online devices, “said Cristin Goodwin, chief of Microsoft’s Digital Security Unit.

Microsoft was warned of the attack by Citizen Lab investigators, and a few weeks later, the company released patches on July 13 on two Windows vulnerabilities that it says are necessary to access spyware, according to a Microsoft blog published Thursday. Microsoft does not name Candiru but instead only means “Israeli player of evil” called Sourgum.

Candiru did not immediately respond to the message she wanted to convey. Candiru is the name of an eel-shaped fish found in the Amazon River region that claims to enter the human urethra before sending out a small amount of pus – a story that some say is just a myth.

The users of the spyware robbed politicians and human rights activists, according to the investigators, who declined to name the people involved.

Citizen Lab researchers say Candiru’s spyware programs are part of a secret society that sells technology to governments and ruling elites in order to connect with civil society and political opponents. An Israeli company, NSO Group Ltd., has been charged with felony criminal mischief for using sophisticated media to seduce journalists and freedom fighters.

The NSO has maintained that it sells its expertise only to governments and law enforcement agencies as a tool to combat terrorism and crime. In a report published on June 30, the NSO Group said it had refused to sell spy software to 55 countries and had taken steps to curb customer abuse.

John Scott-Railton, senior researcher at the Citizen Lab, said Candiru’s research “shows that there is a whole universe being sold to tyrannical governments.”

“Weapons like Candiru are used to send terror out,” he added.

The discovery of Citizen Lab also provided new information on the costs of doing business in espionage.

For 16 million euros ($ 18.9 million), Candiru customers can try to ignore unlimited weapons but can’t afford to track only 10 at a time, according to the Citizen Lab. For an additional 1.5 million euros ($ 1.8 million), buyers are able to review 15 other victims.

Candiru has clients in Europe, Russia, the Middle East, Asia and Latin America, according to the Israeli newspaper Haaretz. Local media organizations have reported on alliances in Uzbekistan, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Singapore and Qatar, according to a report by the Citizen Lab.

Candiru customers are not allowed to work “in the official location only,” according to the Citizen Lab. The company’s customers have signed agreements that reduce jobs outside the US, Russia, China, Israel and Iran, according to the report. But Microsoft says it has recently taken action with spy software in Iran, pointing out that the rules are not fair, according to the report.