Russian authorities reportedly used Cellebrite’s UFED phone-cracking technology to access the device of human rights activist Andrey Pivovarov after his arrest and imprisonment, even after Cellebrite said it had canceled its contract with Russia. Citizen Lab said the data may have helped support later surveillance of other dissidents, including Anastasiya Burakova, in an operation linked to the FSB. #Cellebrite #UFED #AndreyPivovarov #AnastasiyaBurakova #FSB #CitizenLab
Keypoints
- Citizen Lab found evidence that Russian authorities accessed Andrey Pivovarov’s phone in June 2021.
- The access appears to have used Cellebrite’s UFED forensic technology.
- Pivovarov was arrested in 2021, sentenced in 2022, and freed in 2024.
- Researchers suspect information from the phone may have aided later surveillance of other dissidents.
- Cellebrite says legacy devices in Russia are unauthorized and ineffective today.
Read More: https://cyberscoop.com/russia-cellebrite-activist-phone-hacking/