📱 Unlocking and infecting a journalist's phone
Serbian police used a Cellebrite device to unlock the mobile phone of a journalist, Slaviša Milanov, and then infect it with malware. This allowed access to his phone and the installation of surveillance software.
Milanov was arrested in Pirot, Serbia, where police confiscated his phone, laptop and camera, claiming they only wanted to check his documents. However, after more than an hour, and without following clear legal procedures, officers used a Cellebrite device to extract data from his phone.
Upon returning the phone to Milanov, he noticed odd things, such as mobile data and Wi-Fi being disabled, and apps draining excessive battery power. He used the Stay Free app to monitor the phone's usage, discovering that several apps had been active during the time his device was with police, suggesting malware had been installed.
The Amnesty International report also mentions that, together with Google researchers, they discovered a vulnerability in a wide range of Android phones that Cellebrite was exploiting. This vulnerability has since been patched by Qualcomm, the affected chipmaker, and Google has remotely removed the spyware from infected devices.
Cellebrite said it is investigating the allegations and is prepared to terminate relationships with any agency that has used its technology inappropriately.
As reported by TechCrunch:
TechCrunch
Serbian police used Cellebrite to unlock, then plant spyware on, a journalist's phone | TechCrunch
Amnesty said it found NoviSpy, an Android spyware linked to Serbian intelligence, on the phones of several members of Serbian civil society followi...
