Publications

CyberWatch (published monthly)

Latin America and the Caribbean CyberWatch.

Middle East and North Africa CyberWatch.

Social Media CyberWatch.

Southeast Asia CyberWatch.

You can also subscribe to receive CyberWatch in your inbox.

Research Briefs

Citizen Lab. (Number 16-April 2013). Permission to Spy: An Analysis of Android Malware Targeting Tibetans. [Download PDF]

Morgan Marquis-Boire, Bill Marczak, Claudio Guarnieri, and John Scott-Railton. (Number 15- March 2013). You Only Click Twice: FinFisher’s Global Proliferation. [Download PDF]

Seth Hardy. (Number 14- February 2013). APT1′s GLASSES – Watching a Human Rights Organization. [Download PDF]

Morgan Marquis-Boire (lead technical research) and Jakub Dalek (lead technical research), Sarah McKune (lead legal research), Matthew Carrieri, Masashi Crete-Nishihata, Ron Deibert, Saad Omar Khan, Helmi Noman, John Scott-Railton, and Greg Wiseman. (Number 13- January 2013). Planet Blue Coat: Mapping Global Censorship and Surveillance Tools. [Download PDF]

Morgan Marquis-Boire. (Number 12- October 2012). Backdoors are Forever: Hacking Team and the Targeting of Dissent? [Download PDF]

Morgan Marquis-Boire, Bill Marczak and Claudio Guarnieri. (Number 11 – August  2012). The SmartPhone Who Loved Me: FinFisher Goes Mobile? [Download PDF]

Citizen Lab. (Number 10 – July 2012). Recent Observations in Tibet-Related Information Operations: Advanced Social Engineering for the Distribution of LURK Malware. [Download PDF]

Morgan Marquis-Boire. (Number 9 – July 2012). From Bahrain With Love:  FinFisher’s Spy Kit Exposed? [Download PDF]

Citizen Lab. (Number 8 – July 2012). Routing Gone Wild: Documenting Upstream Filtering in Oman via India. [Download PDF]

Citizen Lab. (Number 7 – June 2012). Spoofing the European Parliament. [Download PDF]

Morgan Marquis-Boire and Seth Hardy. (Number 6 – June 2012). Syrian Activists Targeted with BlackShades Spy Software. [Download PDF]

Morgan Marquis-Boire. (Number 5 – May 2012). Simurgh, Iranian anti-censorship software circulated with malicious backdoor (in Farsi).

Morgan Marquis-Boire. (Number 4 – May 2012). Iranian anti-censorship software ‘Simurgh’ circulated with malicious backdoor (Updated). [Download PDF]

Citizen Lab. (Number 3 – March 2012). Information Operations and Tibetan Rights in the Wake of Self-Immolations: Part I. [Download PDF]

Citizen Lab. (Number 2 – November 2011). Behind Blue Coat: An update from Burma. [Download PDF]

Citizen Lab. (Number 1 – November 2011). Behind Blue Coat: Investigations of commercial filtering in Syria and Burma. [Download PDF]

Technical Briefs

Seth Hardy. (Number 1 – August 2012). IEXPL0RE RAT. [Download PDF]

Books

Ronald J. Deibert. Black Code: Inside the Battle for Cyberspace (Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 2013).

Ronald J. Deibert, John G. Palfrey, Rafal Rohozinski and Jonathan Zittrain (Editors) Access Contested: Security, Identity, and Resistance in Asian Cyberspace (Cambridge: MIT Press, 2011).

Ronald J. Deibert, John G. Palfrey, Rafal Rohozinski and Jonathan Zittrain (Editors) Access Controlled: The shaping of power, rights, and rule in cyberspace (Cambridge: MIT Press, 2010).

Ronald J. Deibert, John G. Palfrey, Rafal Rohozinski and Jonathan Zittrain (Editors) Access Denied: The Practice and Policy of Global Internet Filtering (Cambridge: MIT Press, 2008).

Ronald J. Deibert Parchment, Printing, and Hypermedia: Communications in World Order Transformation (New York: Columbia University Press, 1997).

Guides

Citizen Lab. (2007). Everyone’s Guide to Bypassing Internet Censorship.

Citizen Lab. (2007). Everyone’s Guide to Bypassing Internet Censorship (Burmese Translation).

Citizen Lab. (2007). Everyone’s Guide to Bypassing Internet Censorship (Russian Translation).

Citizen Lab Reports

Citizen Lab and ASL19. (2013) After the Green Movement: Internet Controls in Iran, 2009-2012.

Citizen Lab. (2011). The Canadian Connection: An investigation of Syrian government and Hezbullah web hosting in Canada.

Villeneuve, N. (2008). Search Monitor Project: Toward a Measure of Transparency. Citizen Lab Occasional Paper #1

Citizen Lab / Canada Centre Reports

Citizen Lab. (2011). Casting a Wider Net: Lessons Learned in Delivering BBC Content on the Censored Net.

Information Warfare Monitor Reports

Information Warfare Monitor reports can also be found on the IWM website.

Villeneuve, N. (2010). Koobface: Inside a Crimeware Network

Information Warfare Monitor and Shadowserver Foundation (2010). Shadows in the Cloud: Investigating cyber espionage 2.0

Information Warfare Monitor. (2009). Tracking GhostNet: Investigating a Cyber Espionage Network

Villeneuve, N. (2008). Breaching Trust: An analysis of surveillance and security practices on China’s TOM-Skype platform. JR01-2008

Articles, Book Chapters, and Associated Outputs by Citizen Lab Principals and Associates

Deibert, R. “Canada and the Challenges of Cyberspace Governance and Security,” in The School of Public Policy at the University of Calgary, SPP Communique, Volume 5, Issue 3. March 2013.

Deibert, R. “The Growing Dark Side of Cyberspace ( . . . and What To Do About It),” in Penn State Journal of Law & International Affairs, Volume 1, Issue 2. November 2012.

Deibert, R. and Crete-Nishihata, M. “Global Governance and the Spread of Cyberspace Controls,” in Global Governance: A Review of Multilateralism and International Organizations, Volume 18, Number. 3, pp. 339-361 (July-September 2012).

Deibert, R. “Distributed Security as Cyber Strategy: Outlining a Comprehensive Approach for Canada in Cyberspace“. Canadian Defence & Foreign Affairs Institute. 23 August 2012.

Penney, J. “Communications Disruption & Censorship under International Law: History Lesson“. Paper presented at the USENIX Workshop on Free and Open Communications on the Internet (FOCI ’12), San Francisco, CA. 6 August 2012.

Deibert, R. “International Mechanisms of Cyberspace Controls,” in Liberation Technology: Social Media and the Struggle for Democracy, (JHU Press, 2012).

Deibert, R. “Social Media, Inc.: The Global Politics of Big Data“. World Politics Review. 19 June 2012.

Deibert, R. “Securing Cyberspace: Canada needs to set an example for global Internet security.” Canadian Journalists for Free Expression’s Review of Free Expression in Canada 2011/2012.

Deibert, R. “Towards Stewardship in Cyberspace“. The G8 Research Group. 18 May 2012.

Deibert, R., Rohozinski, R. and Crete-Nishihata, M. “Cyclones in cyberspace: Information shaping and denial in the 2008 Russia-Georgia war.” Security Dialogue, 43, 1 (February 2012), pp. 3-24.

Deibert, R. Towards a cyber security strategy for global civil society? Internet rights and democratisation. Global Information Society Watch (2011).

Deibert, R. “The rise of Asian cyberspace: Challenges and opportunities for Canada“. 12 September 2011.

Deibert, R., Palfrey, J., Rohozinski, R. and Zittrain, J. “Access Contested: Toward the Fourth Phase of Cyberspace Controls,” in Access Contested: Security, Identity, and Resistance in Asian Cyberspace, (MIT Press, 2011). Co-editor with John Palfrey, Rafal Rohozinski, and Jonathan Zittrain.

Deibert, R. and Rohozinski, R. “Contesting Cyberspace and the Coming Crisis of Authority,” in Access Contested: Security, Identity, and Resistance in Asian Cyberspace, (MIT Press, 2011). Co-editor with John Palfrey, Rafal Rohozinski, and Jonathan Zittrain.

Villeneuve, N. and Crete-Nishihata, M. “Control and Resistance: Attacks on Burmese Opposition Media,” in Access Contested: Security, Identity, and Resistance in Asian Cyberspace, (MIT Press, 2011).

Deibert, R. and Crete-Nishihata, M. “Blurred Boundaries: Probing the Ethics of Cyberspace Research“. Review of Policy Research,  28, 5 (September 2011), pp. 531-537.

Kathuria, K. “Bypassing Internet Censorship for News Broadcasters”. Paper presented at the USENIX Workshop on Free and Open Communications on the Internet (FOCI ’11),  San Francisco, CA. 8 August 2011.

Deibert, R. and Rohozinski, R. “Liberation vs Control: The Future of Cyberspace,” Journal of Democracy, 24, 1 (October 2010), pp. 43-57.

Deibert, R. “Blogging Dangerously,” in Index on Censorship, Volume 39 and Number 4, Page 88-92, 2010.

Deibert, R. and Rohozinski, R. “Risking Security: The policies and paradoxes of cyberspace security,” in International Political Sociology, Volume 4 Issue 1, Pages 15 – 32, 2010.

Deibert, R. and Rohozinski, R. “Control and Subversion in Russian Cyberspace,” in Access Controlled: The shaping of power, rights, and rule in cyberspace, (MIT Press, 2010). Co-editor with John Palfrey, Rafal Rohozinski, and Jonathan Zittrain.

Deibert R. and Rohozinski, R. “Beyond Denial: Shaping Cyberspace,” in Access Controlled: The shaping of power, rights, and rule in cyberspace, (MIT Press, 2010). Co-editor with John Palfrey, Rafal Rohozinski, and Jonathan Zittrain.

Deibert, R. (2010). China’s Cyberspace Control Strategy: An Overview and Consideration of Issues for Canadian Policy, Canadian International Council China Papers Number 7, February 2010.

Deibert, R. and Rohozinski, R. “Undercover of the Net,” in Anne Clunan and Harold Trinkunas, (eds.) Ungoverned Spaces? Alternatives to State Authority in an Era of Softened Sovereignty (forthcoming Stanford University Press: 2010)

Deibert R. “Protect the Net: The Looming Destruction of the Global Communications Environment,” in Mark Kingwell and Patrick Tunnel, (eds.) Rites of Way: The Politics and Poetics of Public Space, (Wilfed Laurier Press, 2009).

Deibert, R. “The Geopolitics of Internet Control: Censorship, Sovereignty and Cyberspace,” in Andrew Chadwick and Philip N. Howard, (eds.) Routledge Handbook of Internet Politics, New York: Routledge, 2008. Online version here.

Deibert, R. “The Virtual Absence of Malice: Cyber Security and Threat Politics,” review of Myriam Dunn Cavelty, Cyber-Security and Threat Politics: US efforts to secure the information age, Routledge Press, 2008, International Studies Review, Volume 11, Issue 2, 373-375

Deibert, R. “Black Code Redux,” in Megan Boler, ed. Tactics in Hard Times, (MIT Press, 2008).

Deibert, R. & Rohozinski, R. (2008). “Good for Liberty, Bad for Security? Global Civil Society and the Securitization of the Internet.” In Access Denied: The Practice and Policy of Global Internet Filtering, ed. Deibert R., Palfrey, J., Rohozinski, R., Zittrain, J. MIT Press.

Deibert, R. “Between Essentialism and Constructivism: Harold Innis and World Order Transformations,” in The Toronto School of Communication Theory: Interpretations, Extensions, Applications. Edited by Rita Watson and Menahem Blondheim, University of Toronto Press, 2007.

Deibert R. and Villeneuve, N. (2005). Firewalls and Power: An Overview of Global State Censorship of the Internet. Human Rights in the Digital Age. Eds. Mathias Klang and Andrew Murray. Portland, Or.: GlassHouse.

Deibert, R. “Deep Probe: The Evolution of Network Intelligence,” Intelligence and National Security, Volume 17, No 1, 2004.

Rohozinski, R. “‘Secret Agents’ and ‘Undercover Brothers’: The Hidden Information Revolution in the Arab World”, 2004.

Deibert, R. “Deep Probe: The Evolution of Network Intelligence,” Intelligence and National Security, Volume 17, No 1, 2004.

Deibert, R. “Black Code: Censorship, Surveillance, and Militarization of Cyberspace,” Millennium: Journal of International Studies, Vol. 32, No. 3, 2003.

Deibert R. & Stein J. (2003). “Social and Electronic Networks in the War on Terror,” in Robert Latham, (ed.) Bombs and Bandwidth: The Emerging Relationship between IT and Security, New York: Free Press

Rohozinski, R. (2003). “Bullets to Bytes: Reflection on ICT and ‘Local’ Conflicts,” in Robert Latham, (ed.) Bombs and Bandwidth: The Emerging Relationship between IT and Security, New York: Free Press.

Deibert, R. “Dark Guests and Great Firewalls: Chinese Internet Security Policy,” Journal of Social Issues, (2001) 58, 1: 143-158.

Deibert, R. “Unfettered Observation: The Politics of Earth Monitoring From Space,” in Harry Lambright, (ed.) Space Policy for the 21st Century, (NY: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2003).

Deibert, R. “Hyper-Realities of World Politics: Theorizing the Communications Revolution,” in Evan Potter, (ed.) Cyber-Diplomacy: Managing Foreign Policy in the 21st Century, (McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2003).

Deibert, R. “Civil Society Activism on the World Wide Web: the Case of the anti-MAI Lobby,” in David R. Cameron and Janice G. Stein, (eds.) Street Protests and Fantasy Parks: Globalization, Culture and the State, (Toronto: UBC Press, 2003).

Deibert, R. “The Politics of Internet Design: Securing the Foundations for Global Civil Society Networks,” in Stephen Coleman, (ed.) The E-Connected World: Its Social and Political Implications, (McGill University Press, 2003).

Deibert, R. “Circuits of Power: Security in the Internet Environment,” in J.P. Singh and James N. Rosenau, (eds.) Information Technologies and Global Politics: the Changing Scope of Power and Governance, (NY: Suny Press, 2002), pp. 115-142.

Deibert, R. “Dark Guests and Great Firewalls: Chinese Internet Security Policy,” Journal of Social Issues, (2001) 58, 1: 143-158.

Deibert, R. “Neo-Medievalism,” in R. J. Barry Jones, (ed), Routledge Encyclopedia of International Political Economy, June 2001.

Deibert, R. “International Plug n’ Play? Citizen Activism, the Internet, and Global Public Policy,” International Studies Perspectives, (Vol. 1, No. 3, 2000), pp. 255-272.

OpEds and Comments

Deibert, R. and S. McKune, Canadians need to understand the scale of the digital arms trade, Ottawa Citizen, March 13, 2013.

Deibert, R. and S. McKune, Teachers’ pension plan invests in Internet surveillance firm, Toronto Star, February 6, 2013.

Deibert, R., Towards Stewardship in Cyberspace, iPolitics, August 10, 2012.

Deibert, R., Cyber Security: Canada is Failing the World, The Huffington Post Canada, May 26, 2011.

Deibert, R. and R. Rohozinski, The New Cyber Military Industrial-Complex, The Globe and Mail, March 28, 2011.

Deibert, R., The Post-Cablegate Era, The New York Times, December 11, 2010.

Deibert, R. and R. Rohozinski, Meet Koobface, Facebook’s evil doppelgänger, The Globe and Mail , November 12, 2010.

Deibert, R., Worse Than You Think, The New York Times, September 22, 2010.

Deibert, R., Cyberspace Confidential, The Globe and Mail, August 6, 2010.

Deibert, R. and R. Rohozinski, Breaking Up Dark Clouds in Cyberspace, Globe and Mail, April 6, 2010.

Deibert, R. and R. Rohozinski, Google, China, and the coming threat from cyberspace, Christian Science Monitor, January 28, 2010.

Deibert, R., More than a Tech Problem, New York Times, January 16, 2010.

Deibert, R., Google, China, and a Wake Up Call to Protect the Net, Globe and Mail, January 14, 2010.

Deibert, R., Smarter Sleuthing can Save our Online Privacy, Globe and Mail, November 2, 2009.

Deibert, R. and R. Rohozinski, Ottawa Needs a Strategy for Cyberwar, National Post, June 30, 2009.

Deibert, R., Arms Control in Cyberspace, New York Times, May 29, 2009.

Deibert, R., The Internet: Collateral Damage, Globe and Mail, January 1, 2003.

OpenNet Initiative Outputs

ONI outputs can also be accessed at the ONI’s website.

The most recent ONI research on Internet filtering in specific areas can be found in the ONI’s country and regional profile sections.

Bulletins & Advisories

ONI issues bulletins and advisories to attract attention to recent events and recently-released documents and research concerning Internet filtering.

Internet Watch

Internet Watch reports investigate emerging trends in Internet filtering and control. These occasional reports take a detailed look at events, policies, technologies and countries where filtering and content controls are occurring in new and unexpected ways, or where filtering has been alleged but undetected using conventional ONI testing methodologies. They are designed to test hypotheses, refine monitoring techniques, and report on the cutting edge of the global informational battle space.

Case Studies

ONI case studies are in-depth reports of Internet filtering for a selection of countries that predate our current country profiles.