Natalia Krapiva 🕊️👩🏻‍💻

This should be a big scandal!

U.S. hacking company employee is accused of selling trade secrets to Russia 🇷🇺 !

A stark reminder why commercial spyware industry is such a threat to U.S. & other Western democracies’ national security.

We need strict controls & enforcement!

PhantomCaptcha | Multi-Stage WebSocket RAT Targets Ukraine in Single-Day Spearphishing Operation SentinelLABS uncovers a coordinated spearphishing campaign targeting organizations critical to Ukraine's war relief efforts.

New investigation by SentinelOne & partners from DSL Ukraine into phishing attack targeting humanitarian actors.

The attack chain overlaps with Russian FSB hacking group COLDRIVER/Star Blizzard which we at @accessnow.org & @citizenlab.ca reported on last year
www.sentinelone.com/labs/phantom...

Russia bombs kindergarten in Kharkiv, Ukraine says “These strikes are Russia’s spit in the face of anyone who insists on a peaceful solution,” rages Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

🇷🇺 🇺🇦 Russian forces struck a kindergarten in Kharkiv with killer drones on Wednesday morning, according to top Ukrainian officials.

www.politico.eu/article/russ...

#Russia #Ukraine

Today’s WhatsApp v NSO injunction is a BIG DEAL & may essentially kill Pegasus spyware *as we know it.*

To comply, NSO would have to ensure that their spyware cannot access WhatsApp messages or break WhatsApp’s encryption.

This means that NSO can no longer offer “unlimited” access to victims’ 📱s

💡Some key recommendations from @accessnow.org's @natynettle.bsky.social, @mdedora.bsky.social, & Rand Hammoud on 🇺🇸ICE's contract with #spyware vendor Paragon Solutions.

👇👇👇

3/ The donation announcement is the latest in the string of innovative and highly effective (I would even say life saving!) features introduced by Apple to protect its most vulnerable users from spyware attacks like Pegasus.

Other companies should follow suit!

2/ We in civil society have identified the problem of many high risk users targeted w/spyware not being able to afford devices with the latest & strongest security features, especially when many orgs are facing funding cuts.

Apple’s announcement responds to this need!
cyberscoop.com/apple-memory...

Great News! 👏

Apple announced they will be donating 1000 iPhone 17s with the much more secure Memory Integrity Enforcement to high-risk users!

Another meaningful step that Apple is taking to protect journalists, activists & dissidents from commercial spyware! 1/
security.apple.com/blog/apple-s...

A highly concerning development.

NSO and its customers have been targeting U.S. companies like WhatsApp and government officials in violation of U.S. laws and national security.

It should not be rewarded with American investments.

In English: www.calcalistech.com/ctechnews/ar...

Apple Announces $2 Million Bug Bounty Reward for the Most Dangerous Exploits With the mercenary spyware industry booming, Apple VP Ivan Krstić tells WIRED that the company is also offering bonuses that could bring the max total reward for iPhone exploits to $5 million.

With the mercenary spyware industry booming, Apple VP Ivan Krstić tells WIRED that the company is also offering bonuses that could bring the max total reward for iPhone exploits to $5 million. www.wired.com/story/apple-...

[9/10] “It is very concerning that EU bodies' and member states' 💶money may be going into funding the spyware industry,” says @accessnow.org's @natynettle.bsky.social. “This in turn breeds corruption and abuse. There should be strict scrutiny applied to these types of investments.”

⚖️ 🔍 My new op-ed for @justsecurity.org + @atlanticcouncil.bsky.social about the opportunities & dangers of discovery in U.S. spyware litigation

Russia has been cutting the internet to stop drones — and it's driving a cash comeback Internet outages have surged in recent months, from 69 incidents in May to 662 in June and 2,099 in July.

Spoke to @businessinsider.com about Russia's wide-scale internet shutdowns and their devastating effect on the regular people and the country's digital economy.

www.businessinsider.com/russia-econo...

ECtHR Press Release: Fines and penalties against Google breached its free-expression rights

⚖️ An important ECtHR ruling that some may have missed:

The Court ruled that Russia breached Free Expression rights by imposing excessive fines on Google for failure to remove YouTube channels & videos critical of the gov + suspending sanctioned pro-gov Tsargrad TV accounts

Abgeordnete Donata Vogtschmidt (Die Linke) Gab es bisher Ausfuhrgenehmigungsprozesse im Zusammenhang mit dem Spyware-Unternehmen Paragon inklusive dessen deutscher Firma Paragon Solutions (Germany) GmbH, und wenn ja, wie viele (bitte nach beantragten und genehmigten Ausfuhren unterscheiden), und welche weiteren Kontakte gab es bisher mit Paragon beziehungsweise Paragon Solutions (Germany) GmbH? Antwort des Staatssekretärs Bernhard Kluttig vom 10. Juni 2025 Entsprechende Ausfuhrgenehmigungen wurden nicht erteilt. Die Bundesregierung sieht entsprechend der Feststellungen des Bundesverfassungsgerichts in seinem Urteil vom 21. Oktober 2014 (BVerfGE 137, 185) von weiteren Auskünften ab.

Das israelische Staatstrojaner-Unternehmen Paragon hat auch eine GmbH in Deutschland. Die Bundesregierung verweigert eine Antwort, ob deutsche Behörden mit diesen Firmen in Kontakt sind. Gefragt hatte ‪@donatavogtschmidt.bsky.social‬. dserver.bundestag.de/btd/21/004/2...

Incredible news!

In Belarus, the husband of opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya,Syarhey, has been released,along with several other prisoners

They had been sentenced following the attempted overthrow of Lukashenko in 2020

Their release coincided with the visit of Kellogg to Belarus

Same Sea, New Phish: Russian Government-Linked Social Engineering Targets App-Specific Passwords - The Citizen Lab Keir Giles, a prominent expert on Russia, was targeted with a new form of social-engineering attack that leverages App-Specific Passwords. Google links the operation to UNC6293, a Russian state-backed...

Russian hackers continue targeting civil society with phishing.

Excellent new investigation by @citizenlab.ca and Google uncovers sophisticated phishing attack against prominent Russia expert Keir Giles. The hackers were impersonating US State Department.

citizenlab.ca/2025/06/russ...

Second Italian journalist targeted with Paragon spyware, watchdog group says A second Italian journalist was recently targeted by software made by U.S.-owned surveillance company Paragon, internet watchdog group Citizen Lab said, raising new questions about a surveillance scandal that has already led Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's government and Paragon to part ways.

New: *Another* Italian journalist was targeted using Paragon’s spyware, per @citizenlab.ca

www.reuters.com/business/med...

Graphite Caught: First Forensic Confirmation of Paragon’s iOS Mercenary Spyware Finds Journalists Targeted - The Citizen Lab We conducted a forensic analysis of devices belonging to two journalists who were notified by Apple that they were targeted with advanced spyware.

New bombshell report from Citizen Lab confirming with high confidence that Italian Fanpage.it journalist Ciro Pellegrino + anonymous European journalist were targeted with Paragon’s Graphite mercenary spyware.

This scandal is not going away…

citizenlab.ca/2025/06/firs...

US agencies assessed Chinese telecom hackers likely hit data center and residential internet providers Data center giant Digital Realty and mass media titan Comcast were documented as likely victims of the Salt Typhoon cyberespionage group, people familiar say, marking a potentially major expansion of ...

Various agencies are in possession of lists of confirmed or potential victims, but it’s not clear if the tallies are consistent. CISA, for instance, has a list of both telecom and IT companies, but an FBI tabulation shows different entities.
www.nextgov.com/cybersecurit...

Spoke to @suzannesmalley.bsky.social about the ongoing Paragon spyware scandal in Italy.

If Paragon indeed offered help investigating Francesco Cancellato’s case and Italian gov refused it, it puts the conclusions of the COPASIR report under question…

#KeepItOn: Kremlin Must End Internet Shutdowns at National Events The undersigned strongly condemn the internet shutdowns imposed by Russian authorities during the 80th anniversary of World War II victory.

Russian authorities imposed a wide scale mobile #internetshutdowns 🛜 in 30+ regions of Russia during the WWII Victory Day celebrations.

Here is the statement from the #KeepItOn coalition

www.accessnow.org/press-releas...

NSO Fined $168 Million for Pegasus Spyware Attack on WhatsApp In a landmark verdict, NSO Group must pay almost $168 million in damages for using Pegasus spyware to target WhatsApp.

NSO to pay almost 168 million in damages!

Congrats to WhatsApp on this historic (yes, historic) jury verdict against NSO Group!

This is also a win for all the researchers, advocates & victims who have been tirelessly exposing NSO's abuses & advocating for justice!
www.accessnow.org/press-releas...

Here is a screenshot the hacker provided of their access to TeleMessage's systems. This was a list of Customs and Border Protection officials. I called a bunch of them, confirmed the numbers do belong to CBP officials www.404media.co/the-signal-c...

Here is an example of a message that was obtained by the hacker. There are Signal group chats too. This is the risk of archiving systems: they're no longer end-to-end encrypted. It introduces massive new risk www.404media.co/the-signal-c...

The Signal Clone the Trump Admin Uses Was Hacked TeleMessage, a company that makes a modified version of Signal that archives messages for government agencies, was hacked.

New from 404 Media: the Signal clone the Trump administration uses was just hacked. TeleMessage makes a modified version of Signal that archives messages for government agencies, Waltz used it. A hacker got some users' messages, group chats. Hugely significant breach www.404media.co/the-signal-c...

The Signal Clone the Trump Admin Uses Was Hacked TeleMessage, a company that makes a modified version of Signal that archives messages for government agencies, was hacked.

The Signal Clone the Trump Admin Uses Was Hacked

🔗 www.404media.co/the-signal-c...

NSO Group damages in WhatsApp spyware case could be in the ‘tens of millions,’ experts predict The damages stemming from the use of the Israeli spyware maker's Pegasus tool to hack into WhatsApp users' devices are likely to be onerous — but unlikely to put an end to its use, observers said.

Spoke to @suzannesmalley.bsky.social @therecordmedia.bsky.social about the high stakes of the ongoing WhatsApp v NSO trial.

After spending the past decade profiting from human rights abuses & undermining digital security, NSO may finally have to pay big damages.

therecord.media/nso-whatsapp...