Cellebrite suspends Serbia as buyer after claims police used agency’s tech to plant spy ware

Cellebrite introduced on Tuesday that it stopped Serbia from utilizing its expertise following allegations that Serbian police and intelligence used Cellebrite’s expertise to unlock the telephones of a journalist and an activist, after which plant spy ware. 

In December 2024, Amnesty Worldwide revealed a report that accused Serbian police of utilizing Cellebrite’s forensics instruments to hack into the cellphones of a neighborhood journalist and an activist. As soon as their telephones had been unlocked, Serbian authorities then put in an Android spy ware, which Amnesty known as Novispy, to maintain surveilling the 2.

In a press release, Cellebrite stated that “after a evaluate of the allegations introduced forth by the December 2024 Amnesty Worldwide report, Cellebrite took exact steps to research every declare in accordance with our ethics and integrity insurance policies. We discovered it applicable to cease using our merchandise by the related prospects right now.”

Cellebrite didn’t title the shopper on this assertion. Nonetheless, in December, when it initially responded to Amnesty’s report, the corporate stated it was conscious of the nonprofit’s “findings on using surveillance applied sciences towards civil society in Serbia.” 

Cellebrite’s spokesperson Victor Cooper declined to remark when information.killnetswitch requested whether or not it is a everlasting or short-term suspension, and whether or not there may be something the shopper can do to be reinstated.

“Withdrawing licences from prospects who misused the gear for political causes is a vital first step,” Donncha Ó Cearbhaill, the top of the Safety Lab at Amnesty Worldwide, stated in a press release. “Now, Serbian authorities should urgently conduct their very own thorough and neutral investigations, maintain these accountable to account, present cures to victims and set up enough safeguards to forestall future abuse.”