Over-the-counter spyware in Kenya

This week on African infosec

CybAfriqué is a space for news and analysis on cyber, data, and information security on the African continent.

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Over-the-counter spyware in Kenya

Even more than language academia, lawyers and journalists are perhaps the world’s most detailed observers of words. Most recently, both sides have been careful with their words following the news that spyware was discovered on phones belonging to filmmakers who were arrested by Kenyan authorities in relation to this BBC documentary on police brutality during the #EndBadGovernance protests.

During their controversial, mafia-styled arrests on May 2, MarkDenver Karubiu, Bryan Adagala, Nicholas Wambugu, and Christopher Wamae were arrested in Nairobi for publishing false information, and were released the following day without charge, while their electronic devices, a tablet, computers, and storage devices, were confiscated during the arrest, and withheld until July 10.

In September, Citizen Labs found the commercially available spyware Flexispy on their phones, installed while they were in police custody. It’s a slap on media rights and more evidence to an alarming rise in surveillance among African countries, but it’s also a bit disappointing. Flexispy is a powerful, commercially available spyware that can track calls, send photos, and intercept communications. Yet, it’s a commercially available spyware that’s easier to discover in comparison to more premium spyware software like Pegasus and Predator

FEATURE:

  • This article explores the internet blackout of Annobón, a remote island in Equatorial Guinea, where protesters protested against a foreign construction project.

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