Amnesty International: Serbia Uses Israeli Technology To Spy On Activists And Journalists

Serbian spyware illustration dubbed NoviSpy by Amnesty International.

JAKARTA Serbian officials have installed local spy software on the phones of dozens of journalists and activists. This was disclosed by Amnesty International in a report released on Monday, December 16. The report cites digital forensic evidence as well as testimony from activists who claim their devices were hacked in recent months.

In two cases, the software provided by Israeli surveillance firm Cellebrite DI Ltd, was used to unlock the phone before the devices were infected by Serbian spyware dubbed NoviSpy by Amnesty. The spyware secretly takes screenshots of the device, copy contacts, and uploads the data to government-controlled servers, according to the report.

"In some cases, activists and journalists reported signs of suspicious activity on their phones immediately after conducting interviews with Serbian police and security authorities," Amnesty said.

Serbia's Ministry of Home Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and BIA Intelligence did not respond to a request for comment submitted by Reuters on December 12.

However, on Monday, BIA published a statement on its official website calling Amnesty's report "unreasonable statement" and confirmed that BIA was operating in accordance with local law.

Cellebrite products are widely used by law enforcement around the world, including the FBI, to unlock phones and look for evidence. However, Amnesty's accusations, Cellebrite's Head of Marketing, David Gee, said the company was investigating the allegations.

"If this accusation is proven true, it has the potential to violate our final user license agreement," Gee said. If the violation is confirmed, he added, Cellebrite could suspend the use of its technology by Serbian authorities.

Gee stressed that installing surveillance software on devices was "not part of what we did". He also revealed that Cellebrite had started contacting Serbian officials for further information, but declined to provide additional details.

One of the activists mentioned in Amnesty's report said that contacts on their phones had been exported immediately after a meeting with BIA.

"I showed my cell phone to digital forensic experts, and they found NoviSpy spyware had exported my contacts and sent private photos of my device to a BIA-controlled server," the activist told Reuters.

Amnesty revealed that the cell phone unlock device from Cellebrite was received by Serbia as part of an aid package designed to help the country meet the integration requirements to the European Union. This package, funded by the Norwegian government and managed by the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS), was awarded to the Serbian Ministry of Home Affairs between 2017 and 2021 to help Serbia fight organized crime.

However, the Norwegian government temporarily suspended deliveries of Cellebrite devices to Serbia in 2018, Amnesty reported. The Norwegian embassy in Belgrade also expressed concern about the program, but UNOPS eventually continued to deliver the device in June 2019.

"The situation mentioned in this report is very worrying and, if proven true, unacceptable," said Norwegian Deputy Foreign Minister Maria Varteressian.

"We will meet with Serbian authorities and UNOPS later this month to get more information on the matter," he added.

UNOPS, in a statement, said it welcomed Amnesty's report and confirmed that since 2017 it had "enhanced the mechanism for assessing and reducing potential negative impacts". However, they did not provide further details about these measures.

With growing concerns about privacy and scrutiny in the digital era, the report has again highlighted the need for tighter oversight of its surveillance and use technologies in various countries. Amnesty urged the international community to revisit the role of technology such as Cellebrite and ensure that its use does not violate human rights.