Russia used Israeli firm’s tool to crack phone months after ties severed, report finds

Case of Andrei Pivovarov raises questions about how much control Cellebrite has over its own software

Russian authorities used tools from the Israeli company Cellebrite to break into the phone of a political prisoner, months after the company said it cancelled its contracts with Russia, an investigation by the University of Toronto’s Citizen Lab research unit has found.

The case raises questions about how much control Cellebrite has over its own software, which allows users to easily break into phones and examine their contents. The tools are sold worldwide and widely used by police forces in the UK and the US.