Russia used Israeli firm’s tool to crack phone months after ties severed, report finds
Summary
Russian authorities used phone-hacking tools made by the Israeli company Cellebrite on a political prisoner months after Cellebrite said it stopped working with Russia. An investigation found that these tools helped Russian officials get private information from the prisoner's phone to build criminal cases and track contacts.Key Facts
- Russian authorities used Cellebrite’s phone-hacking tools on Andrei Pivovarov, a Russian political prisoner.
- Cellebrite announced it had ended contracts with Russia months before the hacking took place.
- The tools allowed Russian officials to access messages and contacts on apps like WhatsApp and Viber.
- Information taken from Pivovarov’s phone was used in legal cases and to target his contacts.
- Citizen Lab, a research group, confirmed with high confidence Cellebrite’s tools were used.
- Cellebrite claims it aims to avoid misuse and highlights differences from other spyware companies.
- Human rights investigators found Cellebrite did not deactivate the tools already sold to Russia.
- Cellebrite holds rights to deactivate devices sold but has not done so with equipment in Russia.
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