Citizen Lab, 2025 Highlights

the security vulnerability disclosures to WhatsApp and Apple led to software security updates that improved the security of millions of users worldwide.

Spyware manufacturer Paragon terminated its client relationship with Italy after they published findings that confirmed members of Italian civil society were targeted with its Graphite spyware.

NSO Group, the company behind Pegasus spyware, was ordered to pay $167 million in damages to WhatsApp (the fine was later reduced). This is an important step for privacy and security and the first victory against the development and abuse of spyware that came out of the Lab’s work on Pegasus.

Our work was cited in Meta’s new Adversarial Threat report , which attributes Endless Mayfly (an influence operation that the Citizen Lab identified) to Iran’s International Union of Virtual Media—a propaganda arm closely linked to the Iranian state.

Ron Deibert received the Sterling Prize in Support of Controversy from Simon Fraser University, in recognition of his ongoing battle at the intersection of global security, digital technologies, and human rights, and for his counterintelligence work on behalf of civil society.

Deibert’s book, Chasing Shadows, reached #2 on the Canadian non-fiction bestsellers list.

=> excerpt from the email newsletter here .