Lab-tablet-cyber-200

A report by the University of Toronto’s Citizen Lab, recipient of the MacArthur Award for Creative and Effective Institutions, describes a cyber-espionage operation targeting public health advocates in Mexico. A prominent scientist at the Mexican National Institute for Public Health and the directors of Mexican NGOs working on public health and sugar consumption in Mexico were targeted with spyware developed by NSO Group, an Israeli cyberarms dealer that sells spy tools to governments. The activity raises questions about whether NSO’s tools are being used to advance the soda industry’s commercial interests in the country and about surveillance in Mexico in general.