Surveillance Expert: 'It's incredibly easy to destroy someone's reputation today'

Ronald Deibert, a cybersecurity expert and visiting scholar at Vienna's Institute for Human Sciences, expressed concern over the ease with which reputations can be destroyed online. Speaking from a library, Deibert, who leads the University of Toronto's Citizen Lab, highlighted the significant risks associated with his work, noting that Vienna is a hub for espionage where foreign nationals can legally spy on each other.

“

I wanted to avoid unnecessary risk.

Citizen Lab, a small team of about two dozen experts, has a track record of uncovering major surveillance scandals, including the Pegasus spyware that targeted journalists and politicians. Their work has led to critical security updates for millions of Apple users. Deibert explained the technical process of detecting spyware, differentiating between Android's tendency to delete logs upon restart and iOS's meticulous storage of such data, which aids in forensic analysis.

“

It is absolutely legal here for foreigners to spy on each other.

Deibert detailed how spyware infects smartphones, often exploiting unknown vulnerabilities. He noted that a zero-click exploit, like the one used in the Pegasus version discovered in 2021, requires no user interaction. He recommended Apple's Lockdown Mode and Android's Enhanced Security Program for particularly vulnerable individuals.

“

For forensic purposes, it's like destroying evidence as soon as someone restarts their device.

For average users, Deibert stressed the importance of regular software updates, though he cautioned that protection against sophisticated spyware from major Israeli or European firms remains extremely difficult without drastic measures. He observed that private security companies now play a crucial role, effectively turning espionage into a service for states lacking their own technical capabilities.

“

A vulnerability unknown to Apple currently costs around ten million US dollars on the black market.