Citizen Lab
Encyclopedia
The Citizen Lab is an interdisciplinary laboratory based at the Munk School of Global Affairs
at the University of Toronto
, Canada. Founded (and currently directed by) Professor Ronald Deibert
, the Citizen Lab focuses on advanced research and development at the intersection of digital media
, global security, and human rights
.
A “hothouse” that combines the disciplines of political science, sociology, computer science, engineering, and graphic design, the Citizen Lab’s mission is to undertake advanced research and engage in development that monitors, analyses, and impacts the exercise of political power in cyberspace. This mission is executed through a pioneering “fusion” methodology that combines technical reconnaissance, field investigations, data fusion, analysis, and visualization.
Projects are carried out with the assistance and collaboration of multiple private and public partners including the SecDev Group (Ottawa), Psiphon
Inc., the Berkman Center for Internet & Society
at Harvard University
, and Palantir Technologies
.
The Citizen Lab’s ongoing research network includes the Information Warfare Monitor, the OpenNet Initiative
, OpenNet.Asia, OpenNet.Eurasia, the Fusion Methodology Centre, and PsiLab.
The research of the Citizen Lab has been supported in the past by generous grants from the Ford Foundation
, the Open Society Institute
, and the International Development Research Centre
(IDRC), and is currently supported by the Canada Centre for Global Security Studies (University of Toronto), generous grants from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, and The Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC), in-kind and staff contributions from the SecDev Group, and a generous donation of software from Palantir Technologies
.
In 2008, the Information Warfare Monitor discovered a surveillance network being operated by Skype
and its Chinese Partner, TOM Online
, which insecurely and routinely collected, logged, and captured millions of records (including personal information and contact details for any text chat and/or voice calls placed to TOM-Skype users, including those from the Skype platform).
In 2009, after a 10-month investigation, the Information Warfare Monitor discovered and named GhostNet
, a suspected cyber-espionage operation, based mainly in the People's Republic of China, which has infiltrated at least 1,295 computers in 103 countries 30% of which were high-value targets, including ministries of foreign affairs, embassies, international organizations, news media, and NGOs.
In their 2010 followup report, Shadows in the Cloud: Investigating Cyber Espionage 2.0, the Information Warfare Monitor documented a complex ecosystem of cyber espionage that systematically targeted and compromised computer systems in India, the Offices of the Dalai Lama, the United Nations, and several other countries. The investigation recovered a large quantity of stolen documents – including sensitive and classified materials – belonging to government, business, academic, and other computer network systems and other politically sensitive targets.
Having discovered archived copies of the Koobface
botnet's infrastructure on a well-known Koobface command and control server, Information Warfare Monitor researchers documented the inner workings of Koobface in their 2010 report, Koobface: Inside a Crimeware Network. Researchers discovered that in just one year, Koobface generated over US$2million in profits.
(ONI) is a joint project whose goal is to investigate, expose, and analyze Internet filtering and surveillance practices in a credible and non-partisan fashion. It intends to uncover the potential pitfalls and unintended consequences of these practices, and thus help to inform better public policy and advocacy work in this area.
In 2003, thanks to support from the Ford Foundation and the Open Society Institute, the OpenNet Initiative was formed with the Citizen Lab, Berkman Center for Internet and Society, and the Advanced Network Research Group at University of Cambridge UK as the founding partners. Ronald Deibert
(Toronto), John Palfrey
(Harvard), Rafal Rohozinski
(Cambridge), and Jonathan Zittrain
(Harvard) were (and remain) the co-founders and principal investigators of the ONI. Since 2003, the ONIʼs network has evolved and grown. The Oxford Internet Institute was a contributing partner from 2006-2007. After Rafal Rohozinski
moved from Cambridge University to Canada to set up a private think tank, the SecDev Group replaced Cambridge as a core partner.
The ONI has developed extensive regional networks of researchers in the Commonwealth of Independent States (Opennet.Eurasia) and throughout Asia (Opennet.Asia). More than 100 individuals participate in some manner in the ONIʼs testing, research, and analysis.
The ONI published the first global survey of Internet censorship in its edited volume, Access Denied: The Practice and Politics of Internet Filtering, through MIT Press in 2008.
The ONI's second volume, Access Controlled: The Shaping of Power, Rights and Rule in Cyberspace, was published through MIT Press in 2010.
is censorship circumvention software that was originally developed by the Citizen Lab. In 2008 Psiphon was spun off as a Canadian corporation that continues to develop advanced censorship circumvention systems and technologies. Psiphon Inc. and the Citizen Lab occasionally collaborate on research and other projects under the Psi-Lab partnership.
to a Canadian individual or organization for outstanding commitment to the principles of free expression.
Munk School of Global Affairs
The Munk School for Global Affairs at the University of Toronto is an interdisciplinary academic centre on global issues that integrates research with teaching and public education...
at the University of Toronto
University of Toronto
The University of Toronto is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, situated on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution of higher learning in Upper Canada...
, Canada. Founded (and currently directed by) Professor Ronald Deibert
Ronald Deibert
Ronald J. Deibert is professor of Political Science, and Director of the Canada Centre for Global Security Studies and the Citizen Lab at the Munk School of Global Affairs, University of Toronto. The Citizen Lab is an interdisciplinary research and development "hothouse" working at the...
, the Citizen Lab focuses on advanced research and development at the intersection of digital media
Digital media
Digital media is a form of electronic media where data is stored in digital form. It can refer to the technical aspect of storage and transmission Digital media is a form of electronic media where data is stored in digital (as opposed to analog) form. It can refer to the technical aspect of...
, global security, and human rights
Human rights
Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...
.
A “hothouse” that combines the disciplines of political science, sociology, computer science, engineering, and graphic design, the Citizen Lab’s mission is to undertake advanced research and engage in development that monitors, analyses, and impacts the exercise of political power in cyberspace. This mission is executed through a pioneering “fusion” methodology that combines technical reconnaissance, field investigations, data fusion, analysis, and visualization.
Projects are carried out with the assistance and collaboration of multiple private and public partners including the SecDev Group (Ottawa), Psiphon
Psiphon
Psiphon is a web proxy designed to help Internet users securely bypass the content-filtering systems used to censor the internet by governments in places like China, North Korea, Iran, Syria, Myanmar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Vietnam, Pakistan, Belarus' and others...
Inc., the Berkman Center for Internet & Society
Berkman Center for Internet & Society
The Berkman Center for Internet & Society is a research center at Harvard University that focuses on the study of cyberspace. Founded at Harvard Law School, the center traditionally focused on internet-related legal issues. On May 15, 2008, the Center was elevated to an interfaculty initiative of...
at Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
, and Palantir Technologies
Palantir Technologies
Palantir Technologies, Inc., headquartered in Palo Alto, California, with offices in Tysons Corner, Virginia, New York City and Covent Garden, London, is a software company that produces the Palantir Government and Palantir Finance platforms...
.
The Citizen Lab’s ongoing research network includes the Information Warfare Monitor, the OpenNet Initiative
OpenNet Initiative
The OpenNet Initiative is a joint project whose goal is to monitor and report on internet filtering and surveillance practices by nations. The project employs a number of technical means, as well as an international network of investigators, to determine the extent and nature of government-run...
, OpenNet.Asia, OpenNet.Eurasia, the Fusion Methodology Centre, and PsiLab.
The research of the Citizen Lab has been supported in the past by generous grants from the Ford Foundation
Ford Foundation
The Ford Foundation is a private foundation incorporated in Michigan and based in New York City created to fund programs that were chartered in 1936 by Edsel Ford and Henry Ford....
, the Open Society Institute
Open Society Institute
The Open Society Institute , renamed in 2011 to Open Society Foundations, is a private operating and grantmaking foundation started by George Soros, aimed to shape public policy to promote democratic governance, human rights, and economic, legal, and social reform...
, and the International Development Research Centre
International Development Research Centre
The International Development Research Centre is a Canadian Crown Corporation created by the Parliament of Canada that supports research in developing countries to promote growth and development...
(IDRC), and is currently supported by the Canada Centre for Global Security Studies (University of Toronto), generous grants from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, and The Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC), in-kind and staff contributions from the SecDev Group, and a generous donation of software from Palantir Technologies
Palantir Technologies
Palantir Technologies, Inc., headquartered in Palo Alto, California, with offices in Tysons Corner, Virginia, New York City and Covent Garden, London, is a software company that produces the Palantir Government and Palantir Finance platforms...
.
Information Warfare Monitor
The Information Warfare Monitor is public-private venture between the Citizen Lab at the Munk School of Global Affairs, University of Toronto and The SecDev Group, an operational think tank based in a Ottawa (Canada). It is an advanced research activity tracking the emergence of cyberspace as a strategic domain. It is an independent research effort with the stated mission of building and broadening the evidence base available to scholars, policy makers, and others.In 2008, the Information Warfare Monitor discovered a surveillance network being operated by Skype
Skype
Skype is a software application that allows users to make voice and video calls and chat over the Internet. Calls to other users within the Skype service are free, while calls to both traditional landline telephones and mobile phones can be made for a fee using a debit-based user account system...
and its Chinese Partner, TOM Online
TOM Online
TOM Online is a mobile Internet company in China, operating the popular Chinese-language Internet portal and offering a variety of online and mobile services, including wireless internet and online advertising. The TOM Group is the majority shareholder...
, which insecurely and routinely collected, logged, and captured millions of records (including personal information and contact details for any text chat and/or voice calls placed to TOM-Skype users, including those from the Skype platform).
In 2009, after a 10-month investigation, the Information Warfare Monitor discovered and named GhostNet
GhostNet
GhostNet is the name given by researchers at the Information Warfare Monitor to a large-scale cyber spying operation discovered in March 2009. The operation is likely associated with an Advanced Persistent Threat...
, a suspected cyber-espionage operation, based mainly in the People's Republic of China, which has infiltrated at least 1,295 computers in 103 countries 30% of which were high-value targets, including ministries of foreign affairs, embassies, international organizations, news media, and NGOs.
In their 2010 followup report, Shadows in the Cloud: Investigating Cyber Espionage 2.0, the Information Warfare Monitor documented a complex ecosystem of cyber espionage that systematically targeted and compromised computer systems in India, the Offices of the Dalai Lama, the United Nations, and several other countries. The investigation recovered a large quantity of stolen documents – including sensitive and classified materials – belonging to government, business, academic, and other computer network systems and other politically sensitive targets.
Having discovered archived copies of the Koobface
Koobface
Koobface is a computer worm that targets users of the social networking websites Facebook , MySpace, hi5, Bebo, Friendster and Twitter. Koobface is designed to infect Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X, but also works on Linux...
botnet's infrastructure on a well-known Koobface command and control server, Information Warfare Monitor researchers documented the inner workings of Koobface in their 2010 report, Koobface: Inside a Crimeware Network. Researchers discovered that in just one year, Koobface generated over US$2million in profits.
OpenNet Initiative
The OpenNet InitiativeOpenNet Initiative
The OpenNet Initiative is a joint project whose goal is to monitor and report on internet filtering and surveillance practices by nations. The project employs a number of technical means, as well as an international network of investigators, to determine the extent and nature of government-run...
(ONI) is a joint project whose goal is to investigate, expose, and analyze Internet filtering and surveillance practices in a credible and non-partisan fashion. It intends to uncover the potential pitfalls and unintended consequences of these practices, and thus help to inform better public policy and advocacy work in this area.
In 2003, thanks to support from the Ford Foundation and the Open Society Institute, the OpenNet Initiative was formed with the Citizen Lab, Berkman Center for Internet and Society, and the Advanced Network Research Group at University of Cambridge UK as the founding partners. Ronald Deibert
Ronald Deibert
Ronald J. Deibert is professor of Political Science, and Director of the Canada Centre for Global Security Studies and the Citizen Lab at the Munk School of Global Affairs, University of Toronto. The Citizen Lab is an interdisciplinary research and development "hothouse" working at the...
(Toronto), John Palfrey
John Palfrey
John Palfrey is a faculty co-director of the Berkman Center for Internet & Society, vice dean for library and information resources, and the Henry N. Ess III Professor of Law at Harvard Law School. He led a reorganization of the Harvard Law School Library in 2009...
(Harvard), Rafal Rohozinski
Rafal Rohozinski
Rafal Rohozinski is a Canadian expert and practitioner active in the fields of information security, cyber warfare, and the globalization of Armed Violence...
(Cambridge), and Jonathan Zittrain
Jonathan Zittrain
Jonathan L. Zittrain is a US professor of Internet law at Harvard Law School and the Harvard Kennedy School, a professor of computer science at the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, and a faculty co-director of Harvard's Berkman Center for Internet & Society...
(Harvard) were (and remain) the co-founders and principal investigators of the ONI. Since 2003, the ONIʼs network has evolved and grown. The Oxford Internet Institute was a contributing partner from 2006-2007. After Rafal Rohozinski
Rafal Rohozinski
Rafal Rohozinski is a Canadian expert and practitioner active in the fields of information security, cyber warfare, and the globalization of Armed Violence...
moved from Cambridge University to Canada to set up a private think tank, the SecDev Group replaced Cambridge as a core partner.
The ONI has developed extensive regional networks of researchers in the Commonwealth of Independent States (Opennet.Eurasia) and throughout Asia (Opennet.Asia). More than 100 individuals participate in some manner in the ONIʼs testing, research, and analysis.
The ONI published the first global survey of Internet censorship in its edited volume, Access Denied: The Practice and Politics of Internet Filtering, through MIT Press in 2008.
The ONI's second volume, Access Controlled: The Shaping of Power, Rights and Rule in Cyberspace, was published through MIT Press in 2010.
Psiphon
PsiphonPsiphon
Psiphon is a web proxy designed to help Internet users securely bypass the content-filtering systems used to censor the internet by governments in places like China, North Korea, Iran, Syria, Myanmar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Vietnam, Pakistan, Belarus' and others...
is censorship circumvention software that was originally developed by the Citizen Lab. In 2008 Psiphon was spun off as a Canadian corporation that continues to develop advanced censorship circumvention systems and technologies. Psiphon Inc. and the Citizen Lab occasionally collaborate on research and other projects under the Psi-Lab partnership.
Awards
The Citizen Lab was named the winner of the 2010 Vox Libera Award, an award granted by Canadian Journalists for Free ExpressionCanadian Journalists for Free Expression
Canadian Journalists for Free Expression is a Canadian non-governmental organization supported by Canadian journalists and advocates of freedom of expression. The purpose of the organization is to defend the rights of journalists and contribute to the development of press freedom throughout the...
to a Canadian individual or organization for outstanding commitment to the principles of free expression.