Russian dissident's iPhone was reportedly accessed with Israeli forensic tools

A new investigation by Citizen Lab at the University of Toronto says forensic tools from Israel’s Cellebrite were used to break into the iPhone of Russian human rights activist Andrey Pivovarov, months after the company said it had ended operations in Russia. The incident reportedly took place on June 17, 2021, while the iPhone 12 was seized and in the custody of Russian authorities. Pivovarov said the devices were taken from him without his consent and that he never gave police the passcodes for his iPhone or MacBook. The devices were returned to his legal representatives only in 2023, while he was serving a prison sentence.

Citizen Lab said the findings are backed by Russian law enforcement documents, including forensic report No. 1269-17. That report explicitly names Cellebrite’s UFED Physical Analyzer and UFED 4PC, tools used to extract and analyze data from mobile devices. Using them, Russian investigators reportedly gained access to WhatsApp, Telegram and Viber. The extracted material was later used as evidence in Pivovarov’s prosecution. The report also shows targeted searches on the phone using political terms such as “Open Russia Civic Movement” and the name of opposition figure Mikhail Khodorkovsky.

The report says Russian authorities also tried to break into Pivovarov’s encrypted MacBook, but with limited success. Investigators found a series of failed login attempts on the same day the iPhone was accessed. Cellebrite, based in Petah Tikva with major U.S. offices, says it provides digital forensics and intelligence tools to more than 60,000 agencies in 150 countries. It announced in March 2021 that it had ended its contract with Russia’s Investigative Committee after criticism that its technology was helping the regime suppress opponents.

In response, Cellebrite marketing vice president David Gee said any use of the company’s platform in Russia after March 2021 was entirely unauthorized. He said hardware sold before the contract ended was not compatible with modern devices and that any current use happens without technical support, without the company’s consent, and in ways that are illegal from its perspective. Citizen Lab countered that Cellebrite has not met its corporate responsibility to protect human rights and said there is broad evidence the company continued selling services to governments known for persecuting activists, journalists and dissidents.