Trending Now
We have updated our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use for Eurasia Group and its affiliates, including GZERO Media, to clarify the types of data we collect, how we collect it, how we use data and with whom we share data. By using our website you consent to our Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy, including the transfer of your personal data to the United States from your country of residence, and our use of cookies described in our Cookie Policy.
{{ subpage.title }}
Why privacy is priceless
If someone were to get a few pictures off your phone without your permission, what's the big deal, right? Don't be so blasé, says human rights attorney David Haigh, who was prominently targeted with the powerful Pegasus spyware in 2021.
"If someone breaches your private life, that is a gateway to very, very serious breaches of other human rights, like your right to life and right to all sorts of other things," he said. "That's why I think a lot of governments and public sector don't take things as seriously as they should."
Right now, he says, dictators can buy your privacy, "and with it, your life."
Haigh spoke with Eurasia Group Senior Analyst Ali Wyne as part of “Caught in the Digital Crosshairs,” a panel discussion on cybersecurity produced by GZERO in partnership with Microsoft and the CyberPeace Institute.
Watch the full Global Stage conversation: The devastating impact of cyberattacks and how to protect against them
- Fooled by cyber criminals: The humanitarian CEO scammed by hackers - GZERO Media ›
- Attacked by ransomware: The hospital network brought to a standstill by cybercriminals - GZERO Media ›
- Podcast: How cyber diplomacy is protecting the world from online threats - GZERO Media ›
- Podcast: Foreign Influence, Cyberspace, and Geopolitics - GZERO Media ›
- Podcast: Cyber mercenaries and the global surveillance-for-hire market - GZERO Media ›
How cyberattacks hurt people in war zones
They may not be bombs or tanks, but hacks and cyberattacks can still make life miserable for people caught in the crosshairs of conflicts. By targeting key infrastructure and humanitarian organizations, warring governments can deny crucial services to civilians on the other side of no-man's-land.
And just like with conventional weapons, there can be collateral damage, said Stéphane Duguin, CEO of the Cyber Peace Institute. "We have 53 countries in the world targeted by these attacks across 23 sectors of critical infrastructure or essential services," he said. "At the end of the day, you end up having civilians who cannot benefit from essential services because of what has been escalated into another part of the world."
The perpetrators are often not centrally directed either, and may be located all over the world, complicating enforcement efforts. Hear more about what he said about the problem to Eurasia Group Senior Analyst Ali Wyne in a panel discussion which capped “Caught in the Digital Crosshairs,” a video series on cybersecurity produced by GZERO in partnership with Microsoft and the CyberPeace Institute.
Watch the full panel discussion: The devastating impact of cyberattacks and how to protect against them
Why snooping in your private life is big business
Kaja Ciglic, senior director of digital diplomacy at Microsoft, said, "cybersecurity is the defining challenge of our time" amid a spike in misinformation campaigns thanks to wars in Ukraine and Gaza, growing interest from governments in building cyberweapons, and plain old profit-motivated thieves.
"We are seeing private sector enterprises that, effectively, are selling services, products that allow their customers to break into, whether it's a personal account, whether it's into an organization's account," she said. "The cyber mercenary market that is also emerging is also a very strong concern for Microsoft."
Learn more about what they are doing to solve the problem in Kaja's chat with Eurasia Group Senior Analyst Ali Wyne as part of “Caught in the Digital Crosshairs,” a video series on cybersecurity produced by GZERO in partnership with Microsoft and the CyberPeace Institute.
Watch the full conversation: The devastating impact of cyberattacks and how to protect against them
How rogue states use cyberattacks to undermine stability
Cyberattacks are about a lot more than just money these days. Both unscrupulous governments and extremist groups are increasingly using hacking to advance political aims, says Kaja Ciglic, senior director of digital diplomacy at Microsoft.
When the International Committee for the Red Cross or International Court of Justice experiences cyberattacks, she said, "These are all organizations that are trying to defend peace and stability, they're trying to advocate for all of our human rights." The fact that unscrupulous governments are spending taxpayer money to purchase tools that interrupt their work, she noted, is worth taking a stand against.
Ciglic spoke with Eurasia Group Senior Analyst Ali Wyne in a panel discussion for “Caught in the Digital Crosshairs,” a video series on cybersecurity produced by GZERO in partnership with Microsoft and the CyberPeace Institute.
Watch the full Global Stage conversation: The devastating impact of cyberattacks and how to protect against them
The devastating impact of cyberattacks and how to protect against them
Imagine one day you found out someone had hacked your phone. What would that mean for your life? With the right software, the bad guys might be able to get into your bank account, surveil your messages, or even steal your fingerprints and facial scans.
That's what happened to human rights attorney David Haigh, who became the first-known British victim of the powerful Pegasus spyware in 2021 while trying to help women of Emirati and Jordanian royalty escape alleged abuse. He learned that his phone was under surveillance – so his communications and the information stored on the device were compromised.
Two years on, he still lives in fear for the privacy of his loved ones and clients. "The police have done nothing,” he says. “There's no support from the government. There's no real information.”
Emerging technologies threaten to make the already-bleak cybersecurity environment all the more treacherous, opening new avenues of attack that could cost countries, companies, and individuals dearly without proactive measures.
Eurasia Group Senior Analyst Ali Wyne moderated a discussion on cybersecurity as part of “Caught in the Digital Crosshairs,” a video series on cybersecurity produced by GZERO in partnership with Microsoft and the CyberPeace Institute. The discussion focused on the blurring lines between attacks on governments and the private sector.
Wyne spoke with Kaja Ciglic, senior director of digital diplomacy at Microsoft, who referred to cybersecurity as “the defining challenge of our times.” The wars in Ukraine and Gaza have coincided with spikes in both cyberattacks and misinformation campaigns, which Ciglic called “harrowing examples of what can happen and how people can use technology to manipulate others into actions.”
Even in peacetime, states are investing in capabilities that can target critical infrastructure, schools, and hospitals, preparing for a new dimension of conflict. And in the private sector, hackers are exploiting lagging private-sector preparedness to grow and evolve.
Hacking is big business, with companies specializing in helping clients break into accounts. While these are usually about making financial gains, says Stéphane Duguin, CEO of the Cyber Peace Institute, his organization has seen a marked shift over the past two years. Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the institute has tracked a marked increase in attacks on humanitarian organizations, even those that have little to do with the conflict.
“At the end of the day, you end up having civilians who cannot benefit from essential services because of what has been escalated into another part of the world,” he said.
The attacks impact organizations more profoundly than one might think. Bonnie Leff, senior vice president of corporate security at MasterCard, said that when one suffers a cyber attack, “the impact to an NGO can really almost shut it down.” It leaves organizations unable to pay staff or run programs and can damage their reputation with donors, leaving them worse off in the long term.
- Hackers, innovation, malice & cybercrime ›
- Attacked by ransomware: The hospital network brought to a standstill by cybercriminals ›
- The threat of CEO fraud and one NGO's resilient response ›
- Hacked by Pegasus spyware: The human rights lawyer trying to free a princess ›
- Podcast: Cyber Mercenaries and the digital “wild west" ›
- How cyberattacks hurt people in war zones - GZERO Media ›
- How rogue states use cyberattacks to undermine stability - GZERO Media ›
- Why snooping in your private life is big business - GZERO Media ›
Hacked by Pegasus spyware: The human rights lawyer trying to free a princess
In April 2021, David Haigh, a human rights lawyer who'd been fighting to free Dubai’s detained Princess Latifa, received a shocking notification from investigators at The Guardian and Amnesty International: his phone was likely infected with Pegasus spyware. Forensic analysis confirmed that Haigh was the first confirmed British citizen to be hacked by Pegasus, a military-grade spyware created by Israel’s NSO Group that’s licensed to governments all over the world and used for covert surveillance.
Haigh was targeted by a foreign government, likely the ruler of Dubai, but his story isn’t unusual: Over 80% of all internet users are infected with some form of spyware, according to the US National Cyber Security Alliance. GZERO spoke with Haigh, as well as cybersecurity expert Kimberly Ortiz from Microsoft for the first episode of “Caught in the Digital Crosshairs: The Human Impact of Cyberattacks,” a new video series on cybersecurity produced by GZERO in partnership with with Microsoft and the CyberPeace Institute.. Ortiz volunteers for the Insitute and its CyberPeace Builders Program, an organization that provides free cybersecurity assistance, threat detection, and analysis to NGOs and other critical sectors while advocating for safety and security in cyberspace.
- Podcast: Cyber Mercenaries and the digital “wild west" ›
- Hard Numbers: Thais come clean on Pegasus, Salvadoran emergency extended, Tunisian pol questioned, Chinese boycott mortgages ›
- What We're Watching: Dry China, UK inflation forecast, Pegasus spyware shakeup ›
- Digital peace: Trust and security in cyberspace ›
- Fooled by cyber criminals: The humanitarian CEO scammed by hackers - GZERO Media ›
- Attacked by ransomware: The hospital network brought to a standstill by cybercriminals - GZERO Media ›
- Podcast: How cyber diplomacy is protecting the world from online threats - GZERO Media ›
- Podcast: Foreign Influence, Cyberspace, and Geopolitics - GZERO Media ›
- Podcast: Cyber mercenaries and the global surveillance-for-hire market - GZERO Media ›
- The devastating impact of cyberattacks and how to protect against them - GZERO Media ›
- Would the proposed UN Cybercrime Treaty hurt more than it helps? - GZERO Media ›
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky speaks during an interview with Reuters in Kyiv.
What We're Watching: Ukraine won't negotiate, AMLO busted spying, North Korean missile diplomacy
Ukraine on offense
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky issued a decree on Tuesday asserting that all the lands that Russia’s Vladimir Putin claimed to annex last week — and Crimea, which Russia seized in 2014 — remain part of Ukraine. Zelensky and his generals appear to believe that Ukraine is winning the war with Russia, and they have battlefield advances to back up their case. The Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based military think tank, has reported that Ukraine has made “substantial gains” on both the eastern and southern fronts over the past few days and that the units they’re defeating are “some of Russia’s most elite forces.” No wonder Zelensky and many others would swat away suggestions from billionaire eccentric Elon Musk that Ukraine might trade land for peace. Russia has acknowledged recent losses, and blame continues to land on the country’s military brass. It’s not clear how far Ukraine can extend its current gains, but the recapture of Crimea, in particular, will be even more difficult than the more immediate tasks ahead for Ukrainian forces. But for now, Ukraine has pushed the Russian military, and the Kremlin, onto its heels.
Mexico’s AMLO caught riding a winged horse
A new report says the government of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, aka AMLO, has been snooping on journalists using the fearsome Pegasus spyware. Researchers at the Canada-based watchdog Citizen Lab and the Mexican digital privacy advocacy group R3D say the program was installed on the phones of at least three Mexican human rights investigators between 2019 and 2021. The revelation is particularly damning for AMLO, who promised after taking office in 2018 that he’d discontinue the use of Pegasus following revelations that his predecessor had used it against journalists. As recently as last year, AMLO said his government had cut all ties with NSO, the Israel-based company that makes Pegasus, which is typically sold only to governments or law enforcement agencies. According to Human Rights Watch, Mexico remains one of the most dangerous places on earth for journalists and human rights defenders.
North Korea wants attention
Kim Jong Un doesn't like to be ignored. To get attention — particularly from the US and South Korea — his usual shtick is to test ballistic missiles, which North Korea's supreme leader has been doing consistently since the beginning of the year. But he hasn’t gotten much of a rise out of Washington or Seoul – just the usual strongly worded statements. So on Tuesday morning, Kim decided to look elsewhere, firing off a rocket that arced directly over Japan before plunging into the Pacific Ocean. By launching their first missile test over Japan in five years, the North Koreans may hope that rattling a US ally will get Washington to come back to the negotiating table, where Pyongyang wants the Americans to lift economic sanctions without having to surrender its nuclear weapons program first. But North Korea is hardly a priority these days for US President Joe Biden, who has enough on his plate with Russia's invasion of Ukraine, China bullying Taiwan, inflation soaring, and the midterms around the corner. And what about Japan? Expect the shock of the missile overflight to give fresh impetus for Tokyo to boost defense spending.
This article comes to you from the Signal newsletter team of GZERO Media. Sign up today.
A child takes bath in a bucket to cool off amid a heatwave warning in Hunan province, China.
What We're Watching: Dry China, UK inflation forecast, Pegasus spyware shakeup
Feeling the heat in China
Severe drought coupled with record-high temperatures in central and western China have hampered hydropower generation, prompting the shutdown of factories and sparking rolling blackouts in Sichuan province. (China is the world’s largest producer of hydroelectricity, which accounts for at least 18% of its total electricity generation.) The impact of the scorcher is being felt as far away as Shanghai, which relies heavily on hydropower from Sichuan, a province that usually gets a big summer downpour. Meanwhile, the property sector is drowning in debt, prompting China’s central bank on Monday to cut its five-year interest rate to help the construction and real estate sectors. What’s more, Shanghai announced that it would temporarily turn off lights lining the historic Bund waterfront to conserve energy. The energy crunch will further hurt China’s stagnant economy, which continues to contract as a result of President Xi Jinping’s zero-Covid policy. President Xi is desperate to get the situation under control ahead of the 20th Party Congress later this year, when he is expected to secure a norm-defying third term as CCP secretary-general.
UK’s inflation scare
Brits are feeling the heat this summer, from blistering temperatures earlier this month to ongoing rail worker strikes, disrupted train services, and a deepening cost-of-living crisis. But things could soon get even worse thanks to soaring food and gas prices. On Monday, Citigroup warned it expects consumer price inflation to hit a whopping 18.6% by early 2023 — the country’s highest rate since 1979. This Friday, energy regulator Ofgem will announce the level of its next price cap — the outer limit households pay for home energy costs — with estimates suggesting it could rise to more than £3,500 a year, a 75% increase. Some 10.5 million British households are at risk of fuel poverty this winter as inflation squeezes household income – and raises fears of a recession. Analysts say this dynamic could push the Bank of England to further raise interest rates to rein in inflation. Meanwhile, the leadership race to replace outgoing PM Boris Johnson as Conservative Party leader is nearing its end. Frontrunner Liz Truss – who recently said she would look to change the central bank’s mandate on inflation – has pledged to deliver tax cuts and assistance for UK households grappling with the high energy costs, a pivot from her earlier disapproval of “handouts.” But Rishi Sunak, the former chancellor also gunning for the top job, warns that Truss’s plans could plunge the country into an “inflation spiral.”