The recent campaign has been quite personal, targeting leaders of London’s exiled Uyghur community. Under the hood, it uses Windows spyware to target their advocates. In late September, a clandestine raid was waged. It happened to fall on a major day of action against the repressive Chinese Communist Party on October 1st. The resulting gathering of Uyghur, Tibetan, Hong Kong, Taiwanese and Cantonese diasporas was an unprecedented moment of solidarity that acknowledged both historical and current traumas experienced by the Uyghur people.
The demonstration, which was organized by the World Uyghur Congress, included prominent participation from their UK Director Rahima Mahmut. Mahmut was photographed holding an East Turkestan flag, representing the community’s ongoing fight against oppression and desire for independence. The conference and demonstrations were meant to raise awareness about human rights abuses committed by the Chinese state against Uyghurs.
Citizen Lab’s investigation of the campaign (and subsequent analysis) revealed that the actual malware delivery was lacking in sophistication. It was sobering to see just how well the attackers employed social engineering tactics.
“The delivery of the malware showed a high level of social engineering, revealing the attackers’ deep understanding of the target community.” – Citizen Lab
Unknown hackers carried out the operation, which specifically targeted activists and leaders among the exiled Uyghur community. The timing of the cyberattack, coinciding with a high-profile demonstration, raises questions about the motivations behind such actions and their implications for community safety and activism.
Even in its simplicity, the campaign highlights a sinister new front in cyber aggression toward marginalized communities. Spyware can penetrate and sabotage activists’ work. This very effectively cuts communities’ legs out from under them in terms of their ability to mobilize and advocate for their own rights.
Leave a Reply