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SHARE Foundation invites applications for the Digital Security Fellowship, a regional research-oriented and capacity-building programme open to participants from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Serbia. The Fellowship is designed for individuals who already have experience in digital security, as well as for those who aim to expand and deepen their knowledge […]

The license for several dozen controversial forensic tools from the Israeli company Cellebrite has been extended for Serbia’s Ministry of the Interior until mid-next year, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) has reported. According to their findings, the permit was renewed in April this year. Just two months earlier, Cellebrite had announced that it was “to […]

Over the course of 2 years,  EYDR – Youth Participation in Digital Democracy: From Digital Skills to Digital Rights of Youth with Fewer Opportunities has worked to engage, connect, and empower young people in the digital world by developing their digital skills and raising awareness about their digital rights with an approach that balances protection […]

In recent years, spyware has emerged as one of the gravest threats to human rights and a central instrument of repression and social control. Intrusive by design, it operates silently in the background, stripping away what should be every person’s safest sanctuary – privacy. At first glance, its use can appear justified – safeguarding national […]

How forced-root installation, systematic permission abuse, and stealth SMS command-and-control expose Serbia’s expanding digital repression By: Janko Marković In recent years, state-driven surveillance in Serbia has intensified considerably, evolving from sporadic interventions into a more systematic form of digital repression. Within this troubling landscape, NoviSpy has emerged as a custom-built Android spyware, reportedly engineered to […]

How NoviSpy marked a shift from foreign spyware to domestic tools – and what that means for citizens under watch By: Ivana Jovanović Mercenary spyware, specialized malicious software developed by private firms and marketed to governments as tools for fighting crime and terrorism, finds most of its customer base in law enforcement and intelligence agencies. […]

Unpacking the tools, tactics, and implications of Serbia’s NoviSpy operation By: David Stevanović In an age of growing digital threats, the protection of personal data has become more urgent than ever. Recent research has uncovered a previously undocumented Android spyware, now known as NoviSpy, which appears to be part of a troubling trend: the use […]

How forensic analysis uncovered manipulation, exploitation, and the hidden risks behind one of digital forensics’ most powerful tools By: Boris Babović A re-examination of data from the analysis of devices seized from Serbian activists — originally conducted last year by the international organization Amnesty International — reveals that the Cellebrite UFED forensic tool has the […]

According to the findings by Amnesty International (AI), two investigative journalists of the online portal BIRN Serbia have been targeted by the Pegasus spyware, developed by the Israeli NSO Group. Jelena Veljković and another journalist who wished to remain anonymous received suspicious Viber messages on 14 February from the same unknown Serbian phone number. One […]

UPDATE 28 February 2025: Amnesty International’s Security Lab found one more case of abuse of Cellebrite’s tool on a phone of a student activist, who was held on 25 December after attempting to attend the SNS rally in Sava centar. More information and technical findings available at: https://securitylab.amnesty.org/latest/2025/02/cellebrite-zero-day-exploit-used-to-target-phone-of-serbian-student-activist/ The digital forensics tool is withdrawn from […]