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Tag: Amnesty International

  • AWS Bans NSO Group Behind Pegasus Spyware Used Against Journalists

    AWS Bans NSO Group Behind Pegasus Spyware Used Against Journalists

    Amazon Web Services has shut down the accounts of Israeli surveillance firm NSO Group, following explosive revelations of its software being used to target activist and journalists.

    The Washington Post reported that NSO Group’s software, which is normally used to combat terrorists and criminals, “was used in attempted and successful hacks of 37 smartphones belonging to journalists, human rights activists, business executives and two women close to murdered Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.”

    The reaction has been swift and severe, with the company pledging to investigate the incidents. Nonetheless, Motherboard has reported that AWS is shutting down accounts linked to the Israeli company.

    “When we learned of this activity, we acted quickly to shut down the relevant infrastructure and accounts,” an AWS spokesperson told Motherboard in an email.

    This issue is a potential minefield for AWS, since a forensic report by Amnesty International shows NSO Group recently started using AWS services, with captured data from its software being sent to a service on Amazon CloudFront.

    Given the accusations against NSO Group — especially targeting human rights activists and journalists — it’s likely AWS’ response won’t be the last repercussions the company faces.

  • Amnesty Internationals Calls on Google to Halt Saudi Arabia Plans

    Amnesty Internationals Calls on Google to Halt Saudi Arabia Plans

    Amnesty International, along with 38 other humans rights organizations, is calling on Google to halt plans to establish a cloud data center in Saudi Arabia.

    Saudi Arabia has a history of human rights abuses, executing political protesters, digitally surveilling citizens and more. The country was linked to the assassination of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman believed to be behind the order.

    Google announced its plans to open a cloud data center in Saudi Arabia, as the company continues its efforts to move up from the third largest cloud provider. The move is not going over well with human rights groups who are afraid the data center will give Saudi authorities more means to surveil opponents.

    “Saudi Arabia has a dismal human rights record, including digital surveillance of dissidents, and is an unsafe country to host the Google Cloud Platform,” said Rasha Abdul Rahim, Director of Amnesty Tech.

    “In a country where dissidents are arrested, jailed for their expression and tortured for their work – Google’s plan could give the Saudi authorities even greater powers to infiltrate networks and gain access to data on peaceful activists and any individual expressing a dissenting opinion in the Kingdom.

    “Google must immediately halt any plans to establish a Cloud region in Saudi Arabia until the company can publicly demonstrate how it will prevent potential abuse of its platform.”

    Google has yet to respond to the demands.

  • Qatar Demonstrates Danger of Contact Tracing Apps

    Qatar Demonstrates Danger of Contact Tracing Apps

    A major security vulnerability left Qatari citizens open to having highly sensitive, personal information stolen.

    Qatar is one of the many countries that has rolled out a contact tracing app. Contact tracing is widely considered to be one of the keys to getting a handle on the coronavirus pandemic. Unfortunately, there is tremendous potential for an app to be abused, or for poor security to open users up to hackers and scammers. For example, North Dakota’s Care19 app was recently discovered to be sharing location data with FourSquare.

    Qatar’s app is now the latest to have an issue, with Amnesty International’s Security Lab discovering a serious vulnerability that “would have allowed cyber attackers to access highly sensitive personal information, including the name, national ID, health status and location data of more than one million users.”

    To make matters worse, the Qatari contact tracing app is mandatory for the country’s citizens, ensuring virtually everyone was at risk. Amnesty International informed the authorities on May 21 of the vulnerability and they released a fix the very next day.

    “While the Qatari authorities were quick to fix this issue, it was a huge security weakness and a fundamental flaw in Qatar’s contact tracing app that malicious attackers could have easily exploited. This vulnerability was especially worrying given use of the EHTERAZ app was made mandatory last Friday,” said Claudio Guarnieri, Head of Amnesty International’s Security Lab.

    “This incident should act as a warning to governments around the world rushing out contact tracing apps that are too often poorly designed and lack privacy safeguards. If technology is to play an effective role in tackling the virus, people need to have confidence that contact tracing apps will protect their privacy and other human rights.”

    Hopefully governments around the world will take note of Qatar’s example and work hard to protect their citizens’ privacy.

  • Facebook Will Not Give Authorities a Backdoor to Access Encrypted Messages

    Facebook Will Not Give Authorities a Backdoor to Access Encrypted Messages

    Two months ago we reported on an open letter by Attorney General William Barr and his counterparts in Australia and the United Kingdom, calling on Facebook to create encryption backdoors in its messaging apps. This was followed by the FBI urging Interpol to condemn the use of strong encryption.

    Facebook has officially responded to the Attorney General’s request, via an open letter of their own. In the letter, Will Cathcart, Head of WhatsApp, and Stan Chudnovsky, Head of Messenger, highlight the inherent risks of making encryption weaker, or creating backdoors for authorities to access.

    “We believe that people have a right to expect this level of security, wherever they live. As a company that supports 2.7 billion users around the world, it is our responsibility to use the very best technology available to protect their privacy. Encrypted messaging is the leading form of online communication and the vast majority of the billions of online messages that are sent daily, including on WhatsApp, iMessage, and Signal, are already protected with end-to-end encryption.

    “Cybersecurity experts have repeatedly proven that when you weaken any part of an encrypted system, you weaken it for everyone, everywhere. The ‘backdoor’ access you are demanding for law enforcement would be a gift to criminals, hackers and repressive regimes, creating a way for them to enter our systems and leaving every person on our platforms more vulnerable to real-life harm. It is simply impossible to create such a backdoor for one purpose and not expect others to try and open it. People’s private

    “And we are not alone. In response to your open letter asking that Facebook break encryption, over 100 organizations, including the Center for Democracy and Technology and Privacy International, shared their strong views on why creating backdoors jeopardize people’s safety. Cryptography Professor Bruce Schneier said earlier this year: ‘You have to make a choice. Either everyone gets to spy, or no one gets to spy. You can’t have ‘We get to spy, you don’t.’ That’s not the way the tech works.’ And Amnesty International commented: ‘There is no middle ground: if law enforcement is allowed to circumvent encryption, then anybody can.’”

    The two executives argued that law enforcement already has viable ways of getting the information they need in cases that demand it.

    “That doesn’t mean that we cannot help law enforcement. We can and we do, as long as it is consistent with the law and does not undermine the safety of our users…. We deeply respect and support the work these officials do to keep us safe and we want to assure you that we will continue to respond to valid legal requests for the information we have available. We will also continue to prioritize emergencies, such as terrorism and child safety, and proactively refer to law enforcement matters involving credible threats.”

    Our initial report on the Attorney General’s open letter highlighted the dangers of weakening encryption or creating backdoors. As Amnesty International said, “there is no middle ground.” Encryption is about basic math. It’s no more possible to have strong encryption with backdoors than it is to break the laws of physics. Hopefully, Facebook’s questionable history with privacy and security will not cloud the very valid argument they are making about the importance of encryption.

  • Pussy Riot Kicks Jailed Members Out Of Band

    Pussy Riot has become an internationally known name in the past couple of years, with millions of people urging President Vladimir Putin and other Russian leaders to grant them amnesty after three members of the punk band were arrested for “hooliganism” following a concert they held at a cathedral in Moscow. Now, two of those women–Maria Alyokhina and Nadezhda Tolokonnikova–have become the famous faces of the band, and the other members are none too happy. In fact, they have severed ties with both of them and have ousted them from their group.

    Six members of the group have written an open letter this week after Alyokhina and Tolokonnikova appeared at an Amnesty International concert at the Barclays Center, saying the women have strayed from their ideals.

    “Our performances are always ‘illegal,’” the letter stated, “staged only in unpredictable locations and public places not designed for traditional entertainment…the world has acquired two brave, interesting, controversial human rights defenders. Unfortunately, we cannot congratulate them with this in person, because they refuse to have any contact with us.”

    Alyokhina and Tolokonnikova were sentenced to two years in prison for their impromptu concert at Cathedral of Christ the Savior in 2012, but were released in December. The third member who was arrested, Yekaterina Samutsevich, was freed in October of 2013. Alyokhina and Tolokonnikova have said that they fought to stay in prison for the duration of their sentence so that they could research the horrifying conditions the other women faced, but were not allowed to stay. Now, they have made it their mission to help other people who have been imprisoned for sharing their beliefs in a non-violent way.

    “A month ago we were freed from Russian prison camps. We will never forget what it’s like to be in prison after a political conviction. We have vowed to continue helping those who remain behind bars,” they said in a statement. “We are happy to support Amnesty International’s work on behalf of human rights and political prisoners. We, more than anyone, understand how important Amnesty’s work is in connecting activists to prisoners.”

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • Pussy Riot Members To VIsit Brooklyn

    Pussy Riot Members To VIsit Brooklyn

    Two of the women who were recently freed from a Russian prison after being jailed for “acts of hooliganism motivated by religious hatred” will visit Brooklyn on February 5 for a human rights benefit concert.

    Maria Alyokhina and Nadezhda Tolokonnikova were arrested in 2012 after performing an anti-Putin concert inside a cathedral in Moscow and subsequently started a world-wide conversation about the state of rights in Russia. Now, the women say they want to help the people who are still jailed after enduring the harsh conditions of the country’s prisons and even attempted to stay longer than their reduced sentence in order to research the conditions faced by inmates. The women have criticized their sudden release as a ploy by Russian officials to shine up Putin’s image right before the winter Olympics in Sochi.

    “A month ago we were freed from Russian prison camps. We will never forget what it’s like to be in prison after a political conviction. We have vowed to continue helping those who remain behind bars,” they said in a statement.

    The benefit concert will be held at the Barclays Center in collaboration with Amnesty International and will feature performances by The Flaming Lips, Lauryn Hill, and Imagine Dragons, among others. The goal of the benefit is to raise awareness about political prisoners around the world who have chosen to share their beliefs in a non-violent way and have been punished for it.

    “We are happy to support Amnesty International’s work on behalf of human rights and political prisoners,” Tolokonnikova and Alyokhina said in a statement. “We, more than anyone, understand how important Amnesty’s work is in connecting activists to prisoners.”

    “Today, as we work to improve human rights conditions in the United States, we can’t abandon the fight for the rights of imperiled individuals around the world,” said Amnesty International Executive Director Steven W. Hawkins. “When we come together on February 5 in Brooklyn, our voices will be amplified by the presence of Pussy Riot, who continue to demonstrate the power we share when we take a stand against injustice. Join us next month and become a part of the next wave of the human rights movement.”

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • Amnesty International Lets You See What It’s Like To Be Tortured

    Perhaps this video would hit a lot closer to home for the American population if it was released during George W. Bush’s reign, but as it stands, if the following video by, uploaded by Amnesty International, doesn’t leave an impression, you probably watched too much Jack Bauer; although, even as a 24 fan, it’s nice to be able to separate fact from fiction.

    What we have is a video called “Hooded,” and it was created to give viewers an idea of what it’s like to be captured, abducted, and tortured, all while having your face covered with a hood. As you might imagine, it’s powerful stuff, and if you were unsure about where you stood on the sensitive subject, it might just illuminate the subject with a stronger light:


    According to Amnesty International’s description, the video was created for the following purposes:

    ‘Hooded’ is an exploration of visual and auditory senses to convey the horrific nature of torture. It combines extensive sound design with abstracted visuals to provide a disturbing experience. It is a powerful reminder that torture is barbaric and never justifiable.

    This film has been made as part of Amnesty International’s Security with Human Rights campaign, which aims to end abuses of human rights which take place in the context of terrorism, countering terrorism and national security.

    The video is available in the following formats, as well, which should help salve those who feel like Amnesty International is targeting the United States:

    French http://youtu.be/z924ZRGo7Wg
    Spanish http://youtu.be/l9UbBcST-tI
    Arabic http://youtu.be/XUX5C0p1vNg
    Russian http://youtu.be/DuQqSbCrkXw

    The group also provides a link to their page requesting the United States government apologize for the treatment of Maher Arar. If you’re unfamiliar with the story, you might want to address that.

  • Bob Dylan 50th Anniversary Brings New Pete Seeger

    Monday March 19th is the exact 50th anniversary of the release of Bob Dylan’s eponymous first album. The anniversary sees the release for charity of a digital single and music video of the classic Dylan song “Forever Young” by one of Dylan’s mentors – legendary folksinger/activist Pete Seeger who is 92. (93 on May 3rd.) The release is being championed by a grassroots campaign www.ForeverPete.com.

    ForeverPete.com – modeled on the successful 2010 fan-based endeavor to get 88-year-old Betty White to host “Saturday Night Live” – is run by admirers wanting Seeger to become the oldest musician to reach the music charts. Current record-holder in US, UK and other singles charts is Tony Bennett (age 85 in 2011).

    Seeger has a long history of chart success. In the 1950s he was a member of chart-topping folk group, the Weavers. In the 1960s he was frequently in music charts as composer or arranger of hits such as “If I Had A Hammer”, “Where Have All The Flowers Gone?”, “We Shall Overcome” and his chart-topping song for The Byrds “Turn! Turn! Turn!”

    Seeger’s song benefits the human rights organization Amnesty International – this year commemorating its 50th anniversary. Seeger is a longtime supporter.
    Seeger’s performance is captured in this new music video.

    He is also the subject of this mini-documentary on the recording of the song.

    Seeger is accompanied by eighteen youngsters (age 9-13) – the Rivertown Kids. Seeger has mentored this group from his home village of Beacon, NY since 2007. In 2011 Seeger and the Kids won the Grammy for Best Childrens’ Album.

    Seeger’s recording of “Forever Young” expresses the philosophy he shares with Dylan of encouraging the young to retain their youthful idealism. Seeger has already encouraged the Kids to become musical ambassadors for environmentalism. Now he is inspiring them – and millions of other kids worldwide – to also become evangelists for human rights.

    Seeger’s recording was conceived and co-produced by longtime Amnesty activist/producer Martin Lewis (co-creator/producer with John Cleese of Amnesty’s “Secret Policeman’s Ball” series) and arranged and co-produced by Grammy-winning producer/composer Mark Hudson (Ringo Starr, Aerosmith, Ozzy Osbourne). The recording features a string quartet recorded by Grammy-winning Beatles engineer Geoff Emerick.