This week’s Click Here podcast examined the proliferation of spyware with a story featuring Rwandan native Carine Kanimba, the daughter of Paul Rusesabagina. While the name might not be familiar, many may recall that Don Cheadle starred as Rusesabagina in the 2004 movie Hotel Rwanda. So, why is his daughter a guest on a cybersecurity podcast talking about Pegasus?

Kanimba recently spoke at a hearing held by the US House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. Her father has long been critical of the Rwandan government’s violations of human rights, which he was able to do safely after he fled the country until he was bamboozled into captivity in 2020 when he unknowingly boarded a flight that would return him to Rwanda. Once there, he was sentenced to 25 years in prison. Since then, his daughter has launched a very global campaign to free her father. Over the past two years, Kanimba has been the victim of Pegasus spyware.

To learn more about spyware and surveillance, explore a variety of content available in our Library. You can also share these resources to help friends and family stay safe online.

Now let’s take a look at what else made cybersecurity headlines this week.

Aug. 5: A new study published by the World Economic Forum found that teens in the UK get their news from popular social media platforms, including Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube.

Aug. 5: The Department of Homeland Security issued a warning that critical vulnerabilities in the Emergency Alert System could allow attackers to interrupt television and radio broadcasts with fraudulent messages.

Aug. 4: ABC News reported, “Meta said it is focused on continuing to disrupt emerging cybersecurity threats, including ‘perception hacking’ efforts that could attempt to create unjustified fears about the security of U.S. elections.”

Aug. 4: Researchers at Mandiant issued a report suggesting that the recent ransomware attack targeting the Albanian government was likely the work of an Iranian opposition organization.

Aug. 4: Hacktivists staged a cyberattack impacting 7-11 convenience stores and government websites in Taiwan in protest against a visit from Nancy Pelosi.

Aug. 3: The Hill reported that during Nathaniel Fick’s nomination hearing to be the ambassador of the Bureau of Cyberspace and Digital Policy, Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) expressed concern that “we have overlapping responsibilities and authorities with regard to our cyber defense.”

Aug. 3: Semikron, a German electronics manufacturer, said it was the victim of a ransomware attack.

Aug. 3: After news of T-Mobile’s $350 million data breach settlement, Forbes reported, “CultureBanx noted it’s important for the company to also understand how its data breach continues to impact vulnerable communities to allocate money towards fixing issues stemming from this incident.”

Aug. 2: Threatpost reported, “DMARC analysis by Proofpoint shows that institutions in the U.S. have among some of the poorest protections to prevent domain spoofing and lack protections to block fraudulent emails.”

Aug. 2: In the August issue of Google’s monthly security bulletin, the company released patches for 37 vulnerabilities.