WORLD NEWS FOR MONTENEGRO DIASPORA
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AUTHOR:M.J. GDNUS
Police and intelligence services in Serbia are using advanced mobile forensics products and as yet untested spyware to illegally monitor journalists, environmental activists and civil rights activists.
The Amnesty International report, reported by the Guardian, shows how mobile forensics products from the Israeli company Cellebrite are being used to unlock and extract data from the mobile devices of individuals, which have been "infected" with a new Android spyware system called NoviSpy.
"The authorities in Serbia are using surveillance technology and digital repression tactics as instruments of broader state control and repression against civil society," said Dinushika Dissanayake of Amnesty International.
Dissanayake, Amnesty's deputy regional director for Europe, said the report shows how Cellebrite's products, which are used by police and intelligence services around the world, can pose a "huge danger" to activists "when used outside strict legal controls".
These tools allow data to be extracted from a range of devices including the latest Android and iPhone mobile phones and can unlock them regardless of the passcode.
NoviSpy, while technically less advanced than highly invasive spyware such as Pegasus, still allows authorities to record sensitive personal data from a target phone and allows the phone’s microphone or camera to be remotely turned on.
The report documents how authorities in Serbia are using Cellebrite products to enable NoviSpy to “infect” the mobile phones of journalists and activists.
Journalist Slaviša Milanov was reportedly briefly detained by police in February of this year under the pretext of a drink-driving test.
His Android phone was switched off when he handed it over and he was never asked for his passcode.
After his release, Milanov noticed that his phone, left at the police station reception desk, appeared to have been tampered with and its data had been disabled.
Amnesty’s lab analysis showed that it had been unlocked by a Cellebrite product and that NoviSpy had been installed on it.
Forensic evidence was also found showing that Cellebrite products were used to unlock the phone of environmental activist Nikola Ristić.
Amnesty said it had notified Android and Google about the software and that it had been removed from affected Android devices.
Google also sent warnings about “government-sponsored attacks.”
Cellebrite did not respond or comment on the report, which was sent before publication, Amnesty said.
Serbian authorities similarly did not respond to requests for comment.
During the investigation, the Israeli company sent Amnesty a brief response stating that it was not a surveillance company and that it did not provide cyber-surveillance technology or spyware.
Cellebrite said its product is a “digital investigative platform that equips law enforcement agencies with the technology needed to protect and save lives, expedite justice, and preserve data privacy.”
