Report Pakistan Surveillance

HUMAN RIGHTS
UNDER SURVEILLANCE
DIGITAL THREATS AGAINST HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS IN PAKISTAN
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First published in 2018

by Amnesty International Ltd
Peter Benenson House, 1 Easton Street
London WC1X 0DW, UK
Index: ASA 33/8366/2018

Original language: English
amnesty.org
CONTENTS
Glossary 5
1 Executive Summary 7
2 Background 10
2.1 Broader context: civil society under threat 10
2.2 Research methodology 11
3 The digital threat to civil society 13

3.1 What are malware and spyware? 13
3.2 What are phishing and spearphishing? 13
3.3 Why do they matter? 15
4 Targeting of Diep Saeeda 16

4.1 A suspicious Facebook friend 18
4.2 New strategy of attack 22
5 Targeting of other Human Rights Defenders in Pakistan 26

5.1 A pattern of attacks 27
5.2 Malicious emails 28
6 Who is behind these attacks? 30

6.1 Phishing attacks traced to individuals in Pakistan 32
6.2 StealthAgent Android spyware connects to a company in Lahore 38
6.3 Connection to TheOneSpy commercial spyware 42
6.4 Crimson malware connects to individuals in Pakistan 44
6.5 Connection between SuperInnovative and the Crimson campaigns 50
7 Recommendations 52
Conclusion 55
Technical Appendices 56
Appendix A: Analysis of Crimson 56
Downloader module 57
Main module 58
Keylogger module 60
File stealer module 60
Appendix B: Analysis of the Android spyware 61

Communications with Command & Control server 63
List of Indicators of Compromise 65
Notification Letters and Responses 66

Notification letter sent to OVH from Amnesty International 67
Notification letter sent to CONTABO from Amnesty International 68
Statement from Contabo 69
Notification letter sent to Faisal Hanif from Amnesty International 70
Response email from Faisal Hanif 71
Notification letter sent to Ox-i-Gen from Amnesty International 72
Response email from Ox-i-Gen 73
Notification letter sent to SuperInnovative from Amnesty International 74
Notification letter sent to Asim Khan (Liaquat) from Amnesty International 75
Notification letter sent to Zahir Rasheed from Amnesty International 76
GLOSSARY
SOCIAL Using psychological manipulation to trick a victim into performing
ENGINEERING certain actions or revealing certain information that can be used
to compromise their phone, computer or online accounts.
PHISHING A form of cyber attack in which fake login pages of legitimate

services (such as Gmail or Facebook) are created and distributed
in order to collect the usernames and passwords of the victims.
SPEARPHISHING A form of cyber attack that is highly personalized with the objective
of compromising the accounts or devices (phone, computer etc)
of specific targets. Most commonly, this attack is conducted by
delivering malicious files or links via email, with the objective of
luring the victim into installing malware.
MALWARE Malicious software that is designed to be silently installed on

a victim’s computer or phone with the intent to steal private
information or perform other forms of fraud.
SPYWARE Particular kind of malware that is designed to stealthily spy

OR TROJAN on the victim’s computer or phone and continuously monitor
communications and steal private information and files.
RAT Acronym for Remote Access Trojan/Tool. It is another term

for a spyware or a Trojan.
ATTACKERS The individuals who are carrying out a particular campaign

OR OPERATORS of cyber attacks.
COMMAND A Command & Control (C&C) server is the network infrastructure

& CONTROL that is being used by an attacker to collect stolen information.
Spyware would normally be configured to communicate with
a particular Command & Control server, identifiable either
by a domain name or by an IP address.
PAGE SOURCE The HTML source code that is used to compose a web page.
It is normally visible through any web browser by opening the context
menu through a click of the right mouse button.
Diep Saeeda,
March 2018,
©Amnesty International
1
EXECUTIVE
SUMMARY
“Most of the time I feel I am in danger
– but why should I leave? This is my country –
there are very few voices that speak out
loudly. They need people like me.”
Diep Saeeda, Pakistani activist, March 2018
Diep Saeeda received the first suspicious These emails and messages, at times extremely

messages not long after she began personalized and well crafted, included links
campaigning for the release of activist Raza or attachments that, when opened, would
Khan, a victim of enforced disappearance. attempt to infect the victims’ computers
The attackers approached Diep, a human or mobile devices with malware. In other
rights activist in Pakistan, shortly after cases, the link would connect to fake
Raza “disappeared” on 2 December 2017. Google or Facebook login pages designed
Since then, the attackers have carried out to steal the passwords of the targets.
a relentless operation to compromise her
computer, mobile phone and social media These emails and messages are tailored to
accounts, enticing her to download malware the activists’ professional interests in order
in sophisticated and targeted attacks. In the to appear credible as well as to lure targets
most troubling cases, they have even used to engage with the attackers. The messages
Raza’s case in an attempt to lure her in. included links or attachments that, when
opened, would either attempt to infect their
Since January 2018, Amnesty International devices with malware, or direct them to fake
has investigated the source of these Google or Facebook login pages designed
attacks as well as similar attacks against to steal their passwords. Through the
activists in Pakistan. Pakistani activists emails and messages received by activists
shared with Amnesty International the and subsequently shared with Amnesty
suspicious emails and private messages International, we have been able to undertake a
they have received in the past two years. thorough investigation involving comprehensive
HUMAN RIGHTS UNDER SURVEILLANCE

Amnesty International 7
technical research, which exposed a This report highlights four different,
sustained and sophisticated campaign of though interconnected, kinds of digital
digital targeting of human rights defenders threats and attacks against human
that often coincided with particular events. rights defenders in Pakistan.
Amnesty International’s use of digital forensic A network of fake social media
techniques and malware analysis enabled profiles, which use social engineering
us to track the infrastructure through which to access human rights defenders
attackers delivered their malicious code. and deliver malicious surveillance
technologies to them;
This report outlines Amnesty International’s
Targeted phishing attacks attempting
findings on the digital threats and attacks
to steal Google and Facebook
faced by human rights defenders and
credentials in order to gain access to
civil society in Pakistan. During this
the human rights defenders’ personal
research, Amnesty International has
and professional information;
uncovered extensive networks of fake
social media profiles used to infiltrate Attacks using a malware commonly
civil society networks and befriend known as Crimson, a software Amnesty
human rights defenders for the purpose International believes is custom-built
of gaining social capital within activist for the attacker. If implanted
communities and ultimately convincing successfully on a target’s computer,
specific targets to download malicious Crimson constitutes a significant
surveillance technologies and malwares. threat to human rights defenders as
they can be subjected to extensive
Evidence of these threats and attacks is and long-term digital surveillance;
deeply concerning in the already perilous Lastly, Amnesty International has
situation for civil society in Pakistan uncovered a custom-built Android spyware
– a country where activists working known as StealthAgent. StealthAgent –
on a myriad of issues are harassed, which has connections to the commercial
attacked and even subjected to enforced off-the-shelf spyware known as TheOneSpy
disappearance on a regular basis. – can intercept phone calls and messages,
steal pictures, and track victims’ locations
once installed on a victim’s Android phone.
Crimson is believed to be a custom

malware developed and operated by a
single group. Existing literature from the
private sector refers to this particular
attacker variously as ProjectM, Operation
Transparent Tribe, or Operation C-Major.

While this is known to be a very prolific actor, it The psychological impact of the amorphous
is – to the best of our knowledge – the first time nature of technology, and specifically digital
it has been observed and publicly documented surveillance, adds an element of the unknown
to be targeting members of civil society. and feeds into the long-term negative impact
on human rights defenders. “Am I being
Amnesty International is deeply concerned surveilled? Who can I trust? Can I speak
about the threats and attacks outlined in this with my colleagues, friends and family in a
report. These orchestrated and escalating safe and secure way? Or am I endangering
attacks against specific human rights them too?” It forces people into a state of
defenders have a serious quietening effect on paranoia that can be highly effective in
civil society. The amorphous yet ubiquitous closing down the work of civil society.
nature of surveillance technologies, as well as
a lack of accountability for privacy violations, Amnesty International therefore calls on the
leaves civil society in a perceived panopticon. Government of Pakistan – in addition to the
recommendations listed at the end of this
According to the Declaration on the Right report – to fully investigate the allegations made
and Responsibility of Individuals, Groups in this report; ensure the protection of Diep
and Organs of Society to Promote and Saeeda and other human rights defenders
Protect Universally Recognized Human being targeted in Pakistan; recognize the
Rights and Fundamental Freedoms important and legitimate role that human rights
(commonly known as the Human Rights defenders play; and carry out independent
Defenders Declaration), Article 1: and effective investigations with a view to
“Everyone has the right, individually and in determining the fate and whereabouts of all
association with others, to promote and to people who have been forcibly disappeared.
strive for the protection and realization of
human rights and fundamental freedoms at If you have any information relating to
the national and international levels.” the information presented in this report
please contact Amnesty International
As this report outlines, it becomes close to at tech.reports@amnesty.org or on WIRE
impossible to realize the enabled environment (www.wire.com) @aitechreports.
envisaged in the Human Rights Defenders
Declaration when civil society is constantly
being infiltrated by fake social media
accounts, when human rights defenders
become too scared to open emails, and when
individuals fear they are under surveillance.

2
BACKGROUND
2.1
BROADER
custody or refuse to say where they are.
Without news of the victim’s whereabouts,
CONTEXT:
their family is plunged into a state of anguish.
They desperately try to keep the flame of hope
alive while fearing the worst. Sometimes, the
CIVIL SOCIETY disappeared person is released within weeks
or months. Other times, years pass with no
UNDER THREAT news of their whereabouts or wellbeing.
An enforced disappearance involves the denial

On 2 December 2017, Raza Khan left of several rights. The victims are denied their
his office in Lahore’s Garden Town rights to liberty, to an identity, to a fair trial,
neighbourhood, in the province of Punjab. to legal representation, to protection against
He never reached home. All evening, his torture and other ill-treatment, and, if they are
friends and family tried to reach him on his killed, to their right to life. This is why enforced
mobile phone but found that it had been disappearances are a crime under international
turned off. Alarmed, his brother went to find law, and, if committed as part of a widespread or
him at his apartment in Lahore’s Firdous systematic attack against a civilian population,
Market area. There was no sign of Raza. they constitute a crime against humanity.
His room was locked, but the lights were
on and his computer was gone. Raza, a In Pakistan, there are hundreds, perhaps
40-year-old peace activist who devoted his thousands, of victims of enforced
energies to building links between Indians disappearance. The UN Working Group on
and Pakistanis, is feared to have been Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances has
subjected to an enforced disappearance. more than 700 cases pending from Pakistan.
Pakistan’s State Commission of Inquiry on
When a person is subjected to enforced Enforced Disappearances has received reports
disappearance, they are wrenched away of more than 1,500 disappearances from across
from their loved ones by state officials or the country as of January 2018. Enforced
others acting on their behalf. The authorities, disappearances are a violation of Pakistan’s
to whom the families would normally turn constitution1 but successive governments
for help, either deny the victim is in their have failed to recognize it as a distinct and
1 Articles 9, 10 and 10A of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.

autonomous offence, despite repeated pledges But instead of receiving justice for Raza Khan,
to do so, including at Pakistan’s Universal Diep Saeeda herself became ensnared in the
Periodic Reviews before the UN Human Rights broader attack on civil society, taunted by
Council in 2012 and 2017. Pakistan has attackers who used her concern for Raza’s
also resisted calls to ratify the International life and wellbeing to lure her in, before
Convention for the Protection of All Persons subjecting her to the malware attacks that
from Enforced Disappearance. No one has Amnesty International reveals in this report.
ever been held accountable for carrying out
an enforced disappearance in Pakistan. 2.2
Once largely confined to restive areas of Khyber
Pakhtunkhwa, the Federally Administered Tribal RESEARCH
Areas and Balochistan, enforced disappearances
have now spread deep into the country’s METHODOLOGY
heartlands and its main cities. In recent years,
disappearances have also taken place in rural
Pakistani activists shared with Amnesty
Sindh, Islamabad, Lahore, Peshawar, Karachi and
International the suspicious emails and private
Quetta. The victims include bloggers, journalists,
messages that they have received over the
activists, students and other human rights
course of the past two years. These emails and
defenders whose work is crucial to a free and just
messages, at times extremely personalized
society. These crimes have taken place against
and well crafted, included links or attachments
the backdrop of a broader assault on civil society,
that, when opened, would attempt to infect
where the government or agents of the state
the victims’ computers or mobile devices
have criminalized freedom of expression online,
with malware. In other cases, the link would
threatened and physically attacked journalists,
connect to fake Google or Facebook login pages
shut down media organizations, subjected civil
designed to steal the passwords of the targets.
society organizations to severe restrictions, and
expelled international NGOs – including many The discovery of these first emails and
that provide crucial humanitarian support. messages allowed Amnesty International to
initiate a thorough investigation that involved
After Raza Khan disappeared, his friends
extensive technical research, which revealed
sought his release through whatever means
a long-running and widespread campaign of
possible. One of them, Diep Saeeda, a well-
digital targeting of human rights defenders,
known activist from Lahore, took the case to
often coinciding with particular events. Over
the Lahore High Court, with the support of
the course of several months, Amnesty
the late Asma Jahangir,2 a legendary human
International used digital forensic techniques
rights activist whose death in February
and malware analysis, and consequently
2018 was mourned by the UN Secretary-
identified the infrastructure used by the
General, the UN High Commissioner for
attackers to deliver their malicious code and
Human Rights and other world leaders.
to retrieve stolen data from infected devices.
Recently, Asma Jahangir was posthumously
awarded Pakistan’s highest civilian honour.
2 Amnesty International, ‘Pakistan: Asma Jahangir leaves behind a powerful human rights legacy’, 12 February 2018.

Numerous mistakes committed by the
attackers in setting up such infrastructure
and web pages revealed details that allowed
Amnesty International to gather further
evidence and identify individuals in Pakistan
connected to the digital attacks suffered by
human rights defenders in the country.
In order to respond to these attacks, which

have continued throughout the course of our
investigation, we have been in contact with
relevant internet service providers and server
hosting companies to get malicious
infrastructure shut down or disabled.
This report also includes extensive
technical indicators to enable computer
security professionals to implement
detection and countermeasures.
The identities of many of the victims

have been redacted upon their request
in order to safeguard their personal
safety. Those who are named have
explicitly allowed us to mention them.
In several cases the attackers behind this

campaign have made use of fake social media
profiles. The names and pictures used for
these accounts have likely been stolen from
real people. We have obscured the faces to
protect the original subjects of the photos.

3
THE DIGITAL THREAT

TO CIVIL SOCIETY
3.1
WHAT ARE
on the computer’s disk, taking screenshots
of the computer’s desktop, intercepting Skype
MALWARE
calls and messages, stealthily recording the
surroundings by activating the webcam and
microphone, and, in the case of an infected
AND SPYWARE? smartphone, intercepting phone calls and
tracing the physical location of the phone.
Malware is software that is developed

for malicious purposes. It takes the form 3.2
WHAT ARE
of applications that can run on modern
operating systems such as Windows,
PHISHING AND
Mac, Android or iOS. Malware is
normally designed to secretly accomplish
SPEARPHISHING?
particular interception and collection
tasks without the victim’s knowledge.
Spyware is a common term used to

refer to a particular type of malware Phishing and spearphishing are techniques
that is specifically designed to conduct used to compromise a victim’s online
surveillance of the targets/victims by accounts or personal devices (phones
monitoring the activity of the infected or computers, for example).
mobile device or personal computer.
In this report, we use “phishing” to refer
Typical spyware is equipped with several to a common technique designed to steal
collection capabilities that it performs a victim’s username and password for a
continuously and silently without the victim particular online service, such as their
noticing. Some of these capabilities might Facebook account. This attack normally
include stealing documents and pictures stored involves tricking the victim into opening

a malicious link – normally delivered “Spearphishing” is used in this report to
either through email or some other form refer to an attack with the objective of
of private messaging – which will present installing spyware on a victim’s computer
a login prompt that would look extremely or smartphone. Spearphishing is generally
similar, if not identical, to a legitimate login performed by sending very carefully
page, such as for Facebook or Google. crafted and personalized emails to the
target, often impersonating colleagues
For example, the screenshot above shows or loved ones or, in the case of journalists,
a malicious phishing page designed to appearing to come from a potential source.
look like a legitimate login page. These emails carry either a link or, more
commonly, an attachment that, if opened
This is a malicious site designed to
by the victim, attempts to silently install
resemble Google’s email service, Gmail.
spyware on the computer or mobile device.
If the victim mistakenly provides their
These attachments often take the form of
email and password, the attackers will be
apparently legitimate documents, but are
able to access the victim’s email account,
crafted to take advantage of certain software
unless it is protected with further forms
vulnerabilities or use particular tricks that
of authentication or confirmation.
allow a spyware agent to be implanted.
While Google accounts are a frequent target,
phishing is commonly used to steal the
credentials of many legitimate sites, such as
Facebook, Twitter or Yahoo, as well as online
banking, e-commerce and other services.

3.3
WHY DO THEY Even more disturbingly, the secretive and

ubiquitous nature of these attacks means
MATTER?
that the victims never know for certain if
they are being targeted or have unwittingly
downloaded some kind of spyware.
The consequence is that they begin to fear
“Every time I open an that every communication poses a threat.
email I am now scared.
Therefore, these attacks against the online
It’s getting so bad I am accounts and personal devices of human rights
not actually able to carry defenders significantly contribute to a climate
of repression and create a chilling effect on
out my work – my social those targeted with, and those who fear they
work is suffering.” may have been the target of, digital attacks.
The impact of this cannot be over-estimated –
Diep Saeeda, Pakistani activist, March 2018
it is a tool of repression against human rights
defenders and civil society. The threat of
By obtaining access to someone’s Gmail or
constant surveillance is a psychological burden
Facebook account or by installing spyware on
to many, as well as a practical risk to all.
their devices attackers get access to a broad
range of information. They are able to snoop In this report, we detail how these tactics
into private conversations and find material are currently being used in Pakistan to
that can be used to persecute, threaten, silence a prominent activist in the country
discredit or intimidate the target. Access to a and how, alongside the impersonation and
target’s personal accounts can also reveal their infiltration of social media groups, these cyber
social, professional and personal networks, attacks reinforce long-running operations
exposing their friends, families and colleagues, with the objective to stifle dissent.
not to mention the sensitive information
about human rights issues and violations on
which the targets are working. In the case
of spyware, computers or mobile devices
may in essence become wiretaps, revealing
confidential and intimate conversations
and interactions and all but nullifying the
possibility of privacy or confidentiality.

4
TARGETING
OF DIEP SAEEDA
09 12 2016 04 12 2017
Early evidence of cyber attacks targeting Diep Saeeda takes the case
human rights defenders in Punjab to the Lahore High Court
01 02 2018
02 12 2017 Sana Halimi offers supposed information about Raza Khan but sends
Raza Khan disappears a document that appears to contain an unidentified malware
19 10 2017 01 01 2018
Mahrukh Zman contacts another human On Facebook Messanger, Sana Halimi sends
rights defender who cannot be named a link to an app on a fake Google Play Store that is actually
for security reasons an Android phone malware, “StealthAgent” (see section 6.2)
05 12 2017
16 12 2016 Sana Halimi reconnects with
Diep Saeeda receives Diep Saeeda sending a link to
first messages from Sana Halimi a fake Facebook page (see section 4.1)
“Sana had been trying to develop my trust – talking

to me about this and that – so when she sent a
document about Raza I didn’t want to doubt it.
I was so anxious for him and thought maybe this
would help trace him. Then I remembered the
attacks. Now I don’t trust any attachments, even
from my family – what if it is not really them?”
Diep Saeeda, a human rights defender from Pakistan

15 02 2018
Diep Saeeda receives the
first message from Mahrukh Zman
02 03 2018
Diep Saeeda receives an email containing malware sent by purported government officials
that prospects a visit by the Minister of Education to discuss Raza’s disappearance
27 02 2018
Mahrukh Zman sends the paper again
23 02 2018
Mahrukh Zman sends a research paper which
is in fact a known malware called Crimson

1 2
16 12 2016 02 12 2017
Diep Saeeda receives Raza Khan disappears
first messages from Sana Halimi
04 12 2017
Diep Saeeda with the support of Asma Jahangir takes the case to
the Lahore High Court. Diep’s public statement about Raza Khan
4.1
A SUSPICIOUS of the operators of this account were to

befriend Diep, acquire her trust, and then
FACEBOOK
compromise her phone and computer.
2 The fake profile of Sana Halimi is an example
FRIEND of an attacker purporting to be a person

working for a social justice organization in
an attempt to infiltrate an activist or civil
1 In December 2016, activist Diep Saeeda society group and befriend as many people
was approached via the Facebook Messenger of interest as possible.4 Not all of the contacts
application by someone claiming to be a acquired may be targeted with phishing
woman named Sana Halimi3, working for or spearphishing; however, having these
the UN. Over the course of the following week, additional contacts helps to create a perceived
this person attempted to initiate a conversation social network for the fake profile that makes
with Diep, although unsuccessfully. it easier to obtain trust from others. In this
Initially, the Facebook profile for this individual case, for example, the attacker had befriended
appeared to be like any other casual several mutual friends of Diep Saeeda, most
Facebook contact. Later on, however, it would importantly Raza Khan before he disappeared.
become obvious that the real intentions
3 We acknowledge that many of the names used throughout this report are common names and there may be genuine
profiles under these names but the evidence we have gathered suggests the profiles highlighted here are, in fact, fake.
4 This is exemplified by the fact that the profiles we mention in this report had befriended hundreds of activist profiles
and have registered to numerous thematic Facebook groups.

3
05 12 2017
Sana Halimi reconnects with Diep Saeeda
sending a link to a fake Facebook page
The image shows examples of groups that What makes this new contact attempt
“Sana Halimi” was subscribed to at the time even more concerning is that it includes
of writing. Subscribing to and infiltrating what appears to be a Facebook sign-in link
thematic groups is another tactic used by (see the above picture), which is actually
these fake profiles to build the illusion of a phishing page. While the link connects
shared interests, accumulate trust, as well to a page which looks identical to a legitimate
as to discover potential further targets. Facebook login page, it is instead a clone
designed to steal any credentials that are
3 Several months after the initial attempts entered (you can read more about this
to engage Diep Saeeda via Facebook particular attack in section 6.1 of this report).
Messenger, the profile of “Sana Halimi”
suddenly re-connected with Diep on 5
December 2017. This timing was very
suspicious – taking place only a couple
of days after Raza Khan disappeared –
and seemed to be connected to Diep’s
public statements about Raza.

4 5
01 01 2018 01 02 2018
Sana Halimi sends a link to an app on a fake Google Play Store Sana Halimi offers supposed information about Raza Khan
that is actually an Android phone malware, StealthAgent
4 When Diep once again did not The 2018 “photo frames” link in
respond to these messages or the the above screenshot redirects to a
phishing attempt, the operators of webpage which mimics the Google
the “Sana Halimi” profile continued Play Store, but which automatically
messaging Diep, making opaque prompts a download to an Android
remarks about the disappearance Application Package (APK).
of Raza Khan. On 1 January 2018,
they attempted a second attack, APKs are used to distribute applications
sending yet another malicious link, for phones that use the Android
appearing to include photos of a operating system. In this case,
New Year’s Eve picture app. the APK was in fact carrying the spyware
StealthAgent for mobile phones (you can
read more about this particular
attack in section 6.2 of this report).

6
01 02 2018
Sana Halimi sends a document that appears
to contain an unidentified malware
11 02 2018
Asma Jahangir dies.
5 Later on, as the conversation continued, 6 In a further attempt to compromise

the operators behind “Sana Halimi” Diep’s personal computer, the attackers
attempted to lure Diep Saeeda with sent a message containing a link to
the promise of information supposedly a file called “Chats with Raza.docx.exe”.
relevant to Raza Khan’s disappearance. Disguised as a standard Windows Office
This was extremely enticing to Diep; document, this file appears to contain
while the campaign for Raza’s liberation spyware for the Microsoft Windows
is ongoing, any information about his operating system of Diep’s computer.
fate or whereabouts might be critical. 5
These messages are highly manipulative,

playing on Diep’s interest in uncovering the
whereabouts of Raza Khan. These attacks
and the level of personalization show that
the operator of the fake Sana Halimi profile
is clearly determined to obtain access to
Diep’s private files and correspondence.
5 Amnesty International, ‘Pakistan: Peace activist missing’, 6 December 2017.

7 8
15 02 2018 02 2018
Diep Saeeda receives a message by another New attempts to contact Diep Saeeda’s through
suspicious profile, Mahrukh Zman the fake Mahrukh Zman Facebook profile
4.2
NEW
7 A renewed attempt was made in late
February 2018 with another fake Facebook
STRATEGY
profile, appearing to belong to a woman
from Lahore named Mahrukh Zman (or
OF ATTACK
Zaman). Besides Diep Saeeda, this profile
befriended numerous human rights
defenders, journalists and scholars from
Pakistan. Amnesty International also
As the attempts to obtain Diep Saeeda’s
observed how this fake Facebook profile was
personal files through the fake Sana
previously used to conduct attacks against
Halimi profile failed, Diep Saeeda was
others, as detailed later in this report.
then repeatedly approached with different
emails that attempted to lure her into There is additional evidence supporting
opening malicious links and attachments the conclusion that the Facebook profile of
with the objective of infecting her personal Mahrukh Zman is a fake account created with
computer with spyware. These spearphishing the specific purpose of facilitating the attacks
attacks against Diep Saeeda continue at that we have documented throughout this
the time of writing, with malicious emails report. The Facebook profile was created in
received as recently as 16 April 2018. 2016 and is scarcely maintained. While it has
so far accumulated more than 100 friends,
its activity has mostly been limited to sharing
other Facebook users’ posts and a few links.

9 10
08 01 2018
Mahrukh Zman visits Diep Saeda again
09 12 2017
Mahrukh Zman visits Diep Saeda for the first time
8 The account displays a profile picture 9 Diep Saeeda was not familiar with the
which has been widely available online since 6
person that visited her under the name of
as early as 2012 and no other pictures of the
7
Mahrukh Zaman on 9 December 2017. This
same woman are posted on the Facebook “Mahrukh” told Diep Saeeda that she was
account. All of these factors suggest that a student at a local university and claimed
the account for Mahrukh Zman is fake. to be researching religious issues. It is not
unusual for Diep Saeeda to receive visits like
However, a person using the same name this, particularly from students. Per security
– Mahrukh Zman – also visited Diep protocol, all visitors to her office need to
Saeeda in person twice at her office in sign in with their name and phone number.
December 2017 and January 2018, the Interestingly, “Mahrukh” did leave a phone
first visit coming only a few days after the number, but instead of her own, she wrote
disappearance of Raza Khan. Immediately down Diep Saeeda’s phone number.
following the first visit, Mahrukh Zman
sent a Facebook friend request to Diep 10 On 8 January 2018, Mahrukh paid
Saeeda, who did not immediately respond. Diep another visit. However, this
After the second visit in January, Mahrukh time around, she just left a scribble
Zman again tried to connect to Diep instead of a phone number.
Saeeda using Facebook and, shortly
after that, she accepted the request.
6 https://goo.gl/rCbJZH
7 http://funmazapak3.blogspot.se/2012/05/desi-pakistani-girls-in-hot-dresses.html

11
15 02 2018
Mahrukh Zman befriends
Diep Saeda on Facebook
11 A few weeks after Diep Saeeda accepted 13 At this point, wary of the previous attempted
Mahrukh Zman’s friend request on attacks delivered by Sana Halimi, Diep Saeeda
Facebook – following their second meeting did not open these files. Later she received two
– the Mahrukh Zman Facebook profile further emails carrying the same malware. The
initiated a conversation using Facebook first one, delivered on 2 March 2018, appeared
Messenger, restating her interest in having to be from government officials, providing
Diep Saeeda review her work and asking information about a supposed upcoming visit
Diep Saeeda to share her email address of the Minister of Education to the Institute
(note: until that point, Diep Saeeda had for Peace and Secular Studies (IPSS, an
only received failed attempted attacks organization that Diep Saeeda founded),
directly through Facebook Messenger). specifically to discuss the disappearance of Raza
Khan. This email contained Google Drive links
Directly after Diep only replied with hosting files called “Programe- Chief Minister and
12 her email address, Mahrukh Zman Education Minister Punjab Visit to IPSS Lahor.rar”11,
sent her two emails sharing Google “Chief Minister and Education Minister Punjab Visit to
Drive links pointing to three files called IPSS Lahor.scr”12 and “Chief Minister and Education
“PDF.scr” , “Research Report.xls” and
8 9
Minister Punjab Visit to IPSS Lahor-PDF.scr”13.
“Research Paper – Mahrukh Zaman.scr” . 10
8 Hash of the file bd5f33d8415cb1b63c726325e7a0072c4fcae45fd2b1daa86644c42d60e11d1e

9 Hash of the file 1e891d1b2f8839494a839c72dacc2061758d0e71283c9279bb71add8f7c1c1a7
10 Hash of the file b4ef40ff06ca99933581f0e296bffaaf20d80191e0669b45e2a01c9ccf6c4b95
11 Hash of the file 66fff8628b41de3c64068b49be6e571a56e2d2a0c6a384a2947141f596776523
12 Hash of the file b4ef40ff06ca99933581f0e296bffaaf20d80191e0669b45e2a01c9ccf6c4b95
13 Hash of the file bd5f33d8415cb1b63c726325e7a0072c4fcae45fd2b1daa86644c42d60e11d1e

12 13
02 03 2018
Diep Saeeda receives an email containing malware
sent by purported government officials
23 02 2018
Mahrukh Zman sends a research paper which
is in fact a known malware called Crimson
The second and most recently While all these emails might appear
documented email, delivered on 16 to be unconnected, they all show
April 2018, appeared to originate similarities and suggest that they might
from another student of a university have been sent by the same attackers.
in Lahore asking Diep Saeeda for Firstly, all the emails contain links to files
tuition. In this case the attackers also hosted on Google Drive, and all of these
sent Google Drive links pointing to files are Windows malware disguised
files called “Education Documents.zip” 14
as Microsoft Office documents. More
and “education documents.scr” . 15
importantly, all the files sent in the
various emails Diep Saeeda received
belong to the same malware family,
commonly known as Crimson; a custom-
developed spyware. (You can read more
about this in section 6.4 of this report.)
14 Hash of the file 61ca89d45839b7d517a91249940c915f14e6b2ef6b0d061bd6315cef311f70c6

15 Hash of the file 3a3b6f1a6446a199946baeea39735ffd16503e2aafb90848dcddf89a4f6e7fe8

5
TARGETING
OF OTHER
HUMAN RIGHTS
DEFENDERS
IN PAKISTAN

14 15
5.1
A PATTERN 14 In other cases, using the contacts

established through their continued
OF ATTACKS
infiltration and impersonation, the
attackers were gathering information
on the meetings and work of
different organizations in Pakistan.
The targeting of Diep Saeeda with
For example, see this conversation
phishing and spyware attacks is not
between the fake Mahrukh Zman
an isolated case. During the course of
profile and an activist who we cannot
Amnesty International’s investigation, we
name for security reasons.
uncovered many cases of human rights
defenders from Pakistan experiencing
15 Interestingly, when Amnesty International
similar threats and receiving similar
engaged the Mahrukh Zman profile over
malicious emails and messages.16
chat and asked for their profession,
Some were identical, coming from
the attackers responded claiming to
the same fake Facebook profiles.
work at the Human Rights Commission
of Pakistan. This again shows the
Among others, the “Mahrukh Zman”
targeted nature of these attacks: a
Facebook profile was found to be
human rights defender would be
actively pursuing many people involved
inclined to trust someone working for
in Pakistani civil society. In some cases,
a national human rights commission.
like that of Diep Saeeda, the profile was
being used to deliver malware attacks.
16 Amnesty International researchers have been in contact with a number of activists experiencing similar threats
in Pakistan; however, for security reasons, we cannot provide further details in this report.

16
We do not exclude the possibility Just as in the case of Diep Saeeda,

that further fake Facebook profiles the emails we observed are targeted
might have been created by the same and at times also very personalized. In
attackers to conduct other attacks. most cases the emails arrived with a
malicious document attached that would
5.2 deploy a copy of the Crimson malware.
MALICIOUS 16 The above email from January 2017 is

one example of multiple emails being
EMAILS sent to a number of activists using the

same text. The activists shared the
emails with Amnesty International as
part of our research into these attacks.
The attackers make extensive use
The emails had in each case been
of online relationships built through
customized, probably automatically,
Facebook to acquire useful information
with the relevant target’s name.
using simple social engineering. The first
approaches were made with an online
chat, following which the attackers often
attempted to deliver malware via email. A
couple of activists – whose identities we
cannot reveal for safety reasons – shared
with us examples of such emails from as
early as mid-2016. We cannot exclude
the possibility that this campaign might
have been running for even longer.

17 18
17 In more recent examples, dated November

2017, we observed the pretext of digital
security training being used to lure targets
into opening the malicious attachments.
18 In this case the attackers uploaded to

Google Drive a Zip archive containing
both a copy of the malware, as well as
a malicious Microsoft Excel document
attempting to install the same malware.
The format of these emails share the

same layout and technique as those
sent to Diep Saeeda. Unsurprisingly, the
family of malware being used in all these
attacks is the same: the so-called Crimson
(you can read more about this particular
spyware in section 6.4 of this report).

6
WHO IS BEHIND
THESE ATTACKS?
described by
described by
described by
Crimson
d
use
Unknown used StealthAgent software sold by
attackers served by
use
d
Fake Google Play Store
Phishing
attacks

REPORT: Operation C-Major
REPORT: Project M
which mentions
REPORT: Operation Transparent Tribe
oys Said Iqbal

empl
Super founded and leads was in communication with
Innovative
Faisal Hanif
page crea
ted by
using code created by
Asim Liaquat

19 20 21
6.1 20
PHISHING This website is – at the time of writing –

still hosting a fake Facebook login page
ATTACKS TRACED
that looks almost identical to the real
Facebook page. The only indication a user
TO INDIVIDUALS
would have that the page is fake would
be the suspicious web address, which the
IN PAKISTAN
average user would be unlikely to notice.
Amnesty International researchers

investigated this link further and found
As previously mentioned, the attackers
that, after having filled in any login details
targeting Diep Saeeda used multiple
– which would then be recorded and sent
tactics to steal her personal information.
to the attackers – the fake Facebook page
Among others, they attempted to steal
would redirect to a verified.aspx page that
Diep’s credentials for her online accounts
would look like a Facebook login page.
through the use of carefully crafted phishing
19 pages. During the chat over Facebook
Messenger, the attackers sent Diep a link
to facebook-snaps.azurewebsites[.]net.17
17 the [.] annotation is intentionally placed here to prevent accidental visits to the malicious website

data-initial-sign-in-data=”%.@."gf.isid",[],null,null,null,null,null,null,null,null, null,null,null,null,
null,null,null,null,null,null,null,null,null,null,null,null,null,[],[28,10,4,20,27,22],null,"AEThLlzi6Pp-3PS4kSeJ
NKdjtbGOBn52Rr5QStDypN37xzKLM4jhIw0fy3GfLBHJmckiN3zxi2JVwLeD9_nHGv8UdT92eAWJsIXzQ9aPPkZY6wnBJEXJDfoRnH9DFwstXGpetRmrQF
8p1dod52kegANNuTIjV3AdIfGgmr3ubTEVZK5W3qZLdutg
R4St7JdUzHI5cKfBDY2XI0aRe5vselXXCZFuOrJlAO4WTR2acIwkpjvFkmwVFeoSb_Dzlx8sCmZi6VDd3pa1n6zH7Kp8NPQmwn4z8660kjPJk
YUl30bg4F9URPLBQK9FuX9M1t6w626VMJ5pE89Znl8n4Iw0cr_2eiQvrOj_GEe_Im7waSDOWkSbn_GnXPAaO0NlQCvBt3kSY9UqfIwKek4Ha1oO
h9y_NK6xO57_mTLlQ__G2Rkwvc1XjGb3ppb_NpgwT4zR2XrC4b-quHq5zQulcRJhNTurY_NAOCOTTdLYXKkITdDiBxUbOaZ2XpJ-tJw9832BW_HbeFb
5wUxHvWLLXLjACIvS2bTWNXGbNrQkxe9Aa237JODzTu4co0uZHrtDlA98vmGhCJWINe5e4xAAXIeXaK6s0Xo0MUqdRAV6VAlpjLTIlqxVGNyeI-aX4vY
KLQFntENMWWBmy41LL0dMcWjKkPrAOvI_m96BeyKAvYrPovXMWHVwMux6l-MUj7BxvV6lx6GDiDYRflBBbeMY7J5Y95Uy8HQSVLD-06LpuJz2Do2h2b
FadIrGxQnEQUYm5dp7uiaWLl4DmRIxQ9uV6V3kWTofv7iT6vp2tnFMlAs9jTuTGr8sHFhXk7ZtJupCHsyYcwW9BgriLV7NuKfwPYErNjDKtzFVnJWJYBg
pWsS1-4tSMw5jsbhka2llgS26jhYt6QHjmm8zYJDkN2Dat9ZafumiMo9EvWThPiTvWgX8CEURtggwfg994P-fKJ6oYRV6U2OOeUUCVtMjMOc0R-4Dk9
eJ04PiBKYoUA",[[[null,null,false,null,[null,"Mark William","https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-pQrn
keHUCwk/AAAAAAAAAAI/AAAAAAAAAAA/AFiYof2eXbv4ibr21i9bH7TQT4cINyF9iA/mo/photo.jpg","Mark",null,"
khan","https://lh3.googleusercontent.
secure.infopolicy@gmail.com"]],[null,null,false,null,[null,"m khan&qu
com/-l3S0zy_BEgI/AAAAAAAAAAI/AAAAAAAAAAA/AFiYof0vcFwuAjywOjAVtO5-gSX_Ce90AA/mo/photo.jpg","m",null,"
khanajk143@gmail.com"]],[null,null,false,null,[null,"Sardar Asim Khan","https://
Khan&q
lh3.googleusercontent.com/-5bzapJI-9mU/AAAAAAAAAAI/AAAAAAAAAAA/AFiYof2FT-YvmpccTmItqEfAVv4Lp5EY-
Zw/mo/photo.jpg","Sardar Asim",null,"hakcer.unknownx@gmail.com"]
Asim"
22
21 Seemingly hoping to harvest further 22 What the creator was apparently not
credentials from targets who fell victim aware of is that, within the code for its
to the fraudulent Facebook login page, login page, Google maintains hidden
the site would then redirect to a site at lines of code that store details of all the
secure-google.azurewebsites[.]net, which
17
Google accounts that were previously
is a fake Google login page designed logged in to from the same computer.
to steal credentials for Gmail accounts. Google does this to facilitate the process
of selecting multiple Google accounts
However, in creating the fake from the same computer, in cases
Google login page, the attacker where a user owns several accounts
made a crucial error that helped or is using a shared computer.
us to uncover their identity.
To create the fake Google login

page, the attacker appears to have
cloned the genuine Google login
page, and the source code of this
fake Google login page turned
out to be extremely revealing.

[[[null,null,false,null,[null,"Mark Wil-
liam","https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-pQrn
keHUCwk/AAAAAAAAAAI/AAAAAAAAAAA/AFiYof2eXbv4ibr21i9bH7TQT-
4cINyF9iA/mo/photo.jpg","Mark",null,"
secure.infopolicy@gmail.com"]],[null,null,
secure.infopolicy@gmail.com"]],[null,null,-
false,null,[null,"m khan","https://
lh3.googleusercontent.com/-l3S0zy_BEgI/AAAAAAAAAAI/
AAAAAAAAAAA/AFiYof0vcFwuAjywOjAVtO5-gSX_Ce90AA/mo/photo.
jpg","m",null,"
khanajk143@gmail.com"]],[null,null,-
khanajk143@gmail.com"]],[null,null,
false,null,[null,"Sard-
ar Asim Khan","https://lh3.goog-
leusercontent.com/-5bzapJI-9mU/AAAAAAAAAAI/
AAAAAAAAAAA/AFiYof2FT-YvmpccTmItqEfAV-
v4Lp5EYZw/mo/photo.jpg","Sard-
ar Asim",null,"hakcer.unknownx@gmail.com"]
hakcer.unknownx@gmail.com
23 24
As the attacker did not delete those 23 As highlighted in the excerpt of the page
lines of code in the fake version, source, the creator appears to have
the Google phishing page that was used three different email accounts.
sent to Diep Saeeda retained inside The most revealing detail is the name
the page source a list of all the Sardar Asim Khan, associated with the
Google accounts that the creator had email account hakcer.unknownx@gmail.com.
apparently previously used from their
computer. This means that we found, 24 When we searched online for this
within the code of the phishing page, particular name, a few results are
evidence of the names and email returned. One of those is a YouTube
addresses actively used by the creator video tutorial demonstrating the
of the fake Google phishing page. use of a particular tool used to

conduct a computer attack known
as Distributed Denial of Service.18
18 Sardar Asim Khan, YouTube Account, DDOS attack by using Botnets, 13 May 2017,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-cmZzVhTsVU

25 26 27
25 At the very bottom of the description We also found an account for Asim
of this YouTube video, the uploader, Liaquat on StackOverflow, a very popular
Sardar Asim Khan, added a website used by programmers and
link to a Facebook profile. software engineers to ask questions
and receive help on specific technical
26 This Facebook profile indeed belongs to questions. Between August and September
someone named Asim Khan from Pakistan. 2017, Asim Liaquat asked questions on
The person calling himself Asim Khan StackOverflow that Amnesty International
is clearly interested in programming considers relevant to this investigation.
and computer security; in fact, many
of his Facebook posts are links to
hacking tools and tutorials.
27 As shown in some of the same pictures

shared on this Facebook profile,
Asim Khan’s real name appears to
be Asim Liaquat, for whom we also
identified the LinkedIn profile.

28
28 One question begins: “I am trying In the last question he posed on

to design a pop up that seems like StackOverflow, Asim Liaquat asked for help
Facebook” and asks for help to to write code for an Android application
optimize it. In other words, it appears that “secretly forwards received SMS to
that Asim Liaquat is seeking help to another phone number and delete the sent
design a fake Facebook login page. sms from inbox”. In other words, Asim
Liaquat is asking assistance to write portions
The other questions he asks are equally of an Android spyware application able
indicative of his role in creating the software to intercept incoming SMS messages.
used in the attempts to elicit information
from Diep Saeeda. In one he asks for help While we have no evidence that Asim
to “grab” the IP address of a victim when Liaquat was directly involved in the targeting
they click on a link. An IP address is a of Diep Saeeda, it appears clear that he
unique numerical identifier for a device was involved in the development of the
connected to the Internet, and it can reveal phishing pages – the pages designed
for example an approximate geographical to steal Diep’s social media and email
location of its owner. The Facebook credentials – used by the attackers.
phishing page we showed earlier contains
some code that serves exactly that
purpose: grabbing the user’s IP address
along with their login credentials.

29
29 As a further confirmation of Asim The Firebase data stored by the

Khan’s connection with the phishing identified account was openly accessible
pages that were sent to Diep and revealed additional evidence,
Saeeda, Amnesty International including what appear to be screenshots
researchers identified code located at taken by a mobile application under
the facebook-snaps[.]azurewebsites[.]net 19
development by Asim Khan.
domain used to interact with a Google
Firebase database20. Firebase is a These screenshots, which have most
free service offered by Google to likely been mistakenly left exposed
facilitate the development of mobile online, were captured, for example,
and web applications by providing while Asim Khan was browsing through
simple functionality to store and his personal Facebook account.
retrieve data from Google’s cloud.
19 The [.] annotation is intentionally placed here to prevent accidental visits to the malicious website
20 Footnote: The Firebase database was openly accessible at https://bc123049-1105.firebaseio.com/.json

30 31
6.2
STEALTHAGENT 30 As described in the previous section,

this page also appears to have been directly
ANDROID SPYWARE
cloned from the legitimate Google site,
and also carries the page source records
CONNECTS TO
of previously used Google accounts.
Of particular interest, this page included the
A COMPANY
email address secure.infopolicy@gmail.com
which also appeared in the Google
IN LAHORE
phishing pages shown earlier.
Additionally, we discovered that this

particular website hosted several pages
As shown earlier, Diep Saeeda was – which all cloned the appearance of
sent a malicious link to a webpage legitimate services (such as APKMonk
located at secure-apps.azurewebsites[.]net 21
or Google Play Store) – that when
seemingly offering the download of an visited actually deliver StealthAgent.
application with photos of New Year’s
Eve fireworks, which turned out to be In the example above, the senders claimed
the Android spyware StealthAgent. to offer an application for free video calling.22
21 The [.] annotation is intentionally placed here to prevent accidental visits to the malicious website
22 Hash of the file: 3b4b8f807986d1edcadcf42ef2090fe32136e5a5

32 33
31 In another page similar to the one sent to 33 This server publicly exposes a page that
Diep, the attackers used the same copy23 shows details of the configuration of the
of StealthAgent sent to Diep but under running Apache webserver,25 revealing that
a different name and made to look like Server 1 is actually configured as a “reverse
a horoscope application: “horoscope. proxy” to the IP address 217.182.147.171
apk” instead of “newyear.apk”. (hereinafter “Server 2”), a server seemingly
located in France and also provided by
32 All of these copies of StealthAgent OVH. This is shown in the screenshot:
communicate with a Command & Control while we browsed to the IP of Server 1,
server, seemingly located in Canada, at the SERVER_NAME and SERVER_ADDR
the IP address 158.69.159.57 (hereinafter is actually the IP address of Server 2.
“Server 1”). This IP address is assigned
to the French hosting company OVH and A reverse proxy is a server that is configured
has been “sub-delegated” (or re-assigned) to “mediate” the exchange of data between
by OVH to a “Private Customer” in Lahore, a client and a server. It re-transmits the request
Pakistan, as shown in the screenshot.24 originating from a visitor to the actual website
and carries back the response to the client.
23 Hash of the file: a57b6f262ed0a9b3d3cb5338cb968593c490b6e3

24 American Registry for Internet Numbers, WHOIS-RWS,
https://whois.arin.net/rest/net/NET-158-69-159-56-1/pft?s=158.69.159.57
25 Wikipedia, Apache HTTP Server, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apache_HTTP_Server

34 35
In this way, Server 1 appears to be the There might be several reasons for this
Command & Control when in reality particular configuration; it is most commonly
Server 2 is. In this case, Server 2 is used to mask the location of the actual
the server actually responding with Command & Control server and thwart
instructions for StealthAgent and investigations and security analysts.
receiving the data stolen from infected
devices. The screenshot shows Server 35 When visiting the homepage of
2 responding to a request to the web Server 2, the user is presented with
resource that StealthAgent is configured a login prompt (which is likely used
to contact, with the configuration details by the operators of StealthAgent to
that StealthAgent is instructed to follow. browse through data collected by the

spyware from infected phones).
34 As a matter of fact, the page displays
a structured block for StealthAgent Interestingly, the page source of the
to download and parse in order to login prompt showed above includes
extract configuration details for its a line of HTML code that directly
execution. In the configuration above, mentions the name StealthAgent.
StealthAgent is instructed to intercept

It is for this reason that we refer to this
SMS messages and phone calls, but
Android spyware as “StealthAgent”
to not steal pictures of videos.
throughout this report, and the
relevance of this reference will
become more apparent below.

36 37
36 Looking at the registration information 404 page instead of the control panel
of Server 2 (217.182.147.171) we find interface. This indicates the the contents
that it is assigned to OVH and it is also of the web directory had been wiped or
sub-delegated to an address in Lahore, the server reconfigured. Shortly afterwards
but in this case the registration reveals this server and the other reverse proxies
also the identity of the owner . 26
went offline and have not reappeared.
As shown by WHOIS records, the IP 37 As mentioned on his public Facebook

address used by Server 2 is registered to profile, Faisal Hanif appears to be the owner
a Faisal Hanif, from Lahore, Pakistan, with of a company called SupperInnovative.27
the email address imfanee@gmail.com SuperInnovative has a website that
and phone number +923467188345. describes its servers and staff.
A Google search for this email address
returns a Facebook profile for a Faisal Along with more generic IT-related
Hanif at facebook.com/imfanee services, SuperInnovative advertises

surveillance services which include
The OVH Command and Control server a phone call interception system.
became unavailable shortly after Faisal
Hanif was notified. Approximately one hour
later, the web server became reachable
again but now only serving an empty
26 RIPE NCC, RIPE Database Query, https://apps.db.ripe.net/db-web-ui/#/query?searchtext=217.182.147.171

27 Super Innovative website: https://web.archive.org/web/20180213103751/http://superinnovative.net/

38 39
6.3
38 More interestingly, the website of
SuperInnovative also advertises among its CONNECTION
TO THEONESPY
available products a “Phone Monitoring
Application”, which describes more or
COMMERCIAL
less the same functionality as the Android
spyware that we observed being used to
SPYWARE
target Diep Saeeda, and which they call
Pure StealthAgent (as in the “StealthAgent”
mentioned in the login page of Server 2).
StealthAgent resembles in functionality, and
The website of SuperInnovative lists partially in code structure, another more
39
a number of individuals supposedly common off-the-shelf Android spyware
working for the company. called TheOneSpy.28 TheOneSpy is produced
by a company called Ox-I-Gen, and is
This information suggests a direct
publicly advertised as a tool for parental
connection between SuperInnovative and the
control and domestic surveillance.
StealthAgent Android spyware that was sent
to Diep Saeeda, and that SuperInnovative TheOneSpy is commercially available to just
may have been the developers of about anyone willing to pay the licensing
the spyware used by the attackers in cost. A fully-fledged stealthy spyware for
campaigns against activists in Pakistan. mobile phones, it is advertised for parental
control, employee monitoring, as well as
28 TheOneSpy website, https://www.theonespy.com/

40 41
domestic surveillance, as accentuated 41 To further corroborate the connection between

by this “Sweet Valentine’s Steal” 50% StealthAgent with TheOneSpy, we discovered
discount offered on 14 February 2018. 29
that two employees of SuperInnovative are
Facebook friends of Muhammad Yasir Javed.
While TheOneSpy has more functionality
40 than StealthAgent, we believe that an Muhammed Yasir Javed is the owner of Ox-i-
earlier version might have been the starting Gen, the producer of TheOneSpy.Interestingly,
point for a customised alternative version he also previously worked for Vopium, the
developed specifically for the purpose of Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP) company
the surveillance operations that included where Faisal Hanif and many of the other
the targeting of activists in Pakistan. 30
employees of SuperInnovative used to work.
From the numerous direct similarities between The similarities between StealthAgent
the two spyware samples, we conclude that and TheOneSpy as well as the direct
there is a strong direct connection between connections between several employees of
TheOneSpy and StealthAgent, which likely SuperInnovative and the creator and owner of
continued as a separate development effort TheOneSpy suggest to us that StealthAgent
after the initial creation. (You can read more may have been originally created by the same
details on the similarities between TheOneSpy developers or at least the two companies
and StealthAgent in the Appendices.) started the development of their respective
products from the same code base.
29 Advertisement for Valentine’s Day discount for TheOneSpy Packages http://archive.is/v8aty

30 Ox-I-Gen has denied this allegation. Please see “Notification letters and responses”.

6.4
CRIMSON Intercept keystrokes (anything

typed on the device’s keyboard)
MALWARE
and log passwords;
Activate and record audio
CONNECTS from the microphone;

Take pictures from the webcam
TO INDIVIDUALS and screenshots of the desktop;

Search and steal files from the hard disk;
IN PAKISTAN Download and execute files.31
Private cyber security firms have previously
As mentioned above, the Windows documented Crimson32 and the functionality
malware used in the attacks against and network protocol (procedures) used by
Diep Saeeda and other Pakistani human the copies of Crimson we have observed being
rights defenders belongs to a family of used against members of Pakistan’s civil society
malware generally called Crimson. The match those described in these earlier reports.
malware is simple yet has a number of

The earliest malware samples we identified
effective features. It is designed to perform
as used against activists communicate with
numerous collection tasks including:
the Command & Control server located
31 See the Appendix for a detailed analysis of the malware.

32 Proofpoint, Operation Transparent Tribe,
https://www.proofpoint.com/sites/default/files/proofpoint-operation-transparent-tribe-threat-insight-en.pdf

at 178.238.235.234. This server is used to The following is a list of all the servers
make infected computers carry out particular leased from Contabo GmbH that, as of
commands issued by the attackers, as well as 5 March 2018, are being used to host
to receive any stolen data. Our analysis reveals Crimson Command & Controls:
that the attackers have managed to continue 5.189.157.215:14531
using this particular Command & Control server
5.189.173.153:14558
unnoticed and undisturbed since at least 2016.
80.241.209.33:14086
The server was leased from a German company
called Contabo GmbH. Interestingly, in previous 91.205.172.142:14686
reports from the private sector, the attackers 173.212.216.205:14416

using Crimson are found to consistently use 173.212.221.224:14280
Contabo to run their malicious infrastructure. 33
173.249.11.147:14672
More recently, after we notified the company on 173.249.13.208:14562
24 January 2018 and who, at our request, shut 173.249.21.206:14869

the previous Command & Control server down, 173.249.25.237:14258
the attackers moved operations to another server 213.136.72.216:14591
at Contabo GmbH located at 213.136.72.216.
213.136.94.203:14101
In addition to this, we have found several other IP
addresses, all at Contabo GmbH, which appear After being further notified on 8 May
to be in use for the same malware campaigns. 2018 Contabo once again promptly shut
down the associated servers down.
33 Please see statement by Contabo on these findings in “Notification letters and responses”.

42 43
42 In October 2017, after investigating 43 Other security researchers had in fact

some targeted phishing attacks against already noticed this in August 2017.35
an unspecified government organization,
private cyber security vendor Palo Other security researchers followed this
Alto Networks blogged about these up by immediately downloading all the
particular IP addresses and suggested files before they were deleted or hidden.
a possible connection between

Security researcher @JAMESWT_MHT
Crimson and actors in Pakistan.34
tweeted a screenshot while downloading
Palo Alto Networks note in their report that the files from subaat.com.36
this particular server was being used to

Subsequently, security researcher
host a number of malicious files that were
@0x7fff9 tweeted a link to the text-sharing
being actively used in attacks, including
website Pastebin containing a full list of
several samples of Crimson, inside a folder
all the files contained in that archive.37
located at www.subaat.com/files/ that was
mistakenly left open to public view.
34 Palo Alto, Tracking Subaat: Targeted Phishing Attack Leads to Threat Actor’s Repository, 27 October 2017,
https://researchcenter.paloaltonetworks.com/2017/10/unit42-tracking-subaat-targeted-phishing-attacks-point-leader-threat-actors-repository/
Palo Alto, ProjectM: Link Found Between Pakistani Actor and Operation Transparent Tribe, 25 March 2016,
https://researchcenter.paloaltonetworks.com/2016/03/unit42-projectm-link-found-between-pakistani-actor-and-operation-transparent-tribe/
35 JaromirHorejsi (@JaromirHorejsi), Tweet dated 8 August 2017,
https://twitter.com/JaromirHorejsi/status/894826781701754881
36 JAMESWT (@JAMESWT_MHT), Tweet dated 8 August 2017,https://twitter.com/JAMESWT_MHT/status/894831793517494272
37 Guido Not CISSP® (@0x7fff9), Tweet dated 8 August 2017, https://twitter.com/0x7fff9/status/894838300556632064

44 45
44 As of 7 March 2018, this is a portion One file called publish.zip contained

of the text available on Pastebin. 38
what appeared to be an in-development
copy of a Crimson downloader.40
A copy of the contents of subaat.com/files/
was uploaded to the malware sharing This particular copy of Crimson
platform VirusTotal. We obtained a
39
communicates with the Command &
copy of this archive and confirmed that Control server located at the IP address
it contained a large number of copies of 5.189.157.215, which we had previously
live malware. Interestingly, it contained identified and which appeared to be
copies of Crimson that were not disclosed currently active as of 19 March 2018.
before then. This means that not having
45 Interestingly, this copy of Crimson
been previously disclosed, these are not
copies of Crimson that could have been also references in multiple places
otherwise acquired after disclosure, the computer name VMI70913.
but are instead unique and novel,

suggesting the people owning the website
have at least privileged access to Crimson.
38 Pastebin, 8 August 2017, https://pastebin.com/gNLAqNWr

39 VirusTotal, 8 August 2017,
https://www.virustotal.com/#/file/89904476ad134f7f6359427d31b740c4369b310e7b09e5b90465d9aa05075f6e/details
40 VirusTotal, https://www.virustotal.com/#file/93695f582fe95c3638d46f2bde0b0688a17026b2e97d3abc9026e6a533dd9641/details

46 47
The configured Command & Control The document begins by naming two
server located at IP address 5.189.157.215 people, one of which is Zahid Rasheed, as
was assigned a domain name of members of a “Team Cyber Security”, and
vmi70913.contabo.host by the hosting proceeds with a rather intriguing description
company Contabo GmbH, suggesting that of the daily tasks of this particular team:
this particular copy of Crimson was likely “We scan network on daily basis to check open
generated on that same server.41 We are port or any outbound connection into our network,
therefore confident that the owners of then we communicate with twitter and FB team
the subaat.com website also had access captains for any new Anti Army or Fake accounts
to recognized Crimson infrastructure as well of COAS/DG ISPR. Check DG’s Facebook page
as tools to build Crimson malware. security and Past 24 hour activity. We are working
on different target accounts to trace their IP
46 However, the most revealing file at the
Addresses or to compromise their accounts.
time hosted on subaat.com is one called
We check different new site to see if there are any
“zahidskills.docx”. This document appears to
Anti Army content on it, so we try to take them down
provide an overview of the skills of members of
or at least trace the administrator. Increasing likes/
the Pakistani military cyber security team, their
followers and viral content on SM-Team request.
daily tasks as well as their particular expertise.
We Scan ISPR/PakArmy Website on Weekly basis
to find vulnerabilities or any type of errors.
Explore and test new exploits on cyber security
and to stay up to date with latest techniques.”
41 Details available at: https://www.robtex.com/ip-lookup/5.189.157.215

48
If authentic, this document suggests that it 48 Documents written with Microsoft Office
was created by individuals who are working normally retain some metadata, or
for a team that is conducting both defensive “properties”, that record useful information
as well as offensive operations, particularly in such as who created the document,
retaliation to those critical of the Pakistan Army. and when it was created or last edited.44
Interestingly this extract specifically mentions This particular document’s metadata
some military-related acronyms, including: reveals that it was created on 24 July 2017
COAS: Chief of Army Staff42 by a user named root@madleets.com.
ISPR: Inter-Services Public Relations, the

Records of the email address
media wing of the Pakistan armed forces.
root@madleets.com point to Zahir Rasheed,45
In particular it mentions the Director
one of the people mentioned in the Office
General (DG), who is the spokesperson
document as a member of Team Cyber
of the Pakistan armed forces43
Security, based in Islamabad, Pakistan.
42 ISPR, COAS, https://www.ispr.gov.pk/chief-of-army-staff.php

43 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inter-Services_Public_Relations ISPR, https://www.ispr.gov.pk/index.php
44 Microsoft, Learn more about document properties,
https://support.office.com/en-us/article/view-or-change-the-properties-for-an-office-file-21d604c2-481e-4379-8e54-1dd4622c6b75#learn16
45 This email address is publicly linked to his personal website as well as his Facebook account.

49 50
6.5
CONNECTION 49 The owner of SuperInnovative, Faisal Hanif,

is also recorded as having been the owner
BETWEEN
of a company called Innovative Technology
Network (ITN) registered in the UK.46 This
SUPERINNOVATIVE
information also appears in the LinkedIn
profile of Faisal Hanif, which as of March
AND THE CRIMSON

2018 still mentions his role as founder of ITN.
The company previously had an online
CAMPAIGNS presence at itn-uk.com. A snapshot of the

homepage is available on Internet Archive:47
Throughout the course of our investigation 50 In 2016, the antivirus company Symantec
into the connections between the published a technical description of a
attacks that we observed, particularly spyware for BlackBerry phones which they
all those received by Diep Saeeda, we identified as BBOS.StealthGenie. Among
identified indications that the creators of others, they identify fanee.itn-uk.com as
StealthAgent have been in contact with one of the domains to which such spyware
the operators of the Crimson attacks. was configured to extract stolen data. Note
that the word “fanee” was also found in
46 Innovative Technologies Network (ITN) Ltd details available at:

https://suite.endole.co.uk/insight/company/08188650-innovative-technologies-network-itn-ltd?view_pdf=90699930&code=e3e07b3df2
47 Snapshot of website available at: https://web.archive.org/web/20141220093843/http://itn-uk.com/itn/home.html

51 52
Faisal Hanif’s Facebook account located 52 Furthermore, when the cyber security company
at www.facebook.com/imfanee,further Proofpoint published its report Operation
suggesting his connection with the domain. Transparent Tribe,50 which documents Crimson
attacks, Proofpoint provided a screenshot
51 For this same domain, fanee.itn-uk.com, we they obtained from one of the developers of
find other records on VirusTotal, including a Windows malware used by the attackers.
a number of other malicious files.48
In this screenshot, the developer of the
One of these files is called spy.jar, and appears Windows malware “Beendoor”, detailed in
to be yet another copy of a BlackBerry spyware, the Proofpoint report, is chatting with Sajid
which contains references to the IP address Iqbal, an employee of SuperInnovative,
178.238.230.88. This IP address, owned by further suggesting that for quite some time
the German company Contabo GmbH, was there has been a connection between
previously documented by TrendMicro in its the operators of the Crimson attacks
report Operation C-Major,49 which details attacks and the developers of StealthAgent.
conducted by the operators of the Crimson. Such
overlap of network infrastructure, while it could
also be coincidental, generally is suggestive
of a potential connection between the two.
48 VirusTotal, https://www.virustotal.com/#/domain/fanee.itn-uk.com
49 Trend Micro, Operation C-Major: Information Theft Campaign Targets Military Personnel in India, March 2016,
http://documents.trendmicro.com/assets/pdf/indian-military-personnel-targeted-by-information-theft-campaign-cmajor.pdf
50 Proofpoint, Operation Transparent Tribe,
https://www.proofpoint.com/sites/default/files/proofpoint-operation-transparent-tribe-threat-insight-en.pdf

7
RECOMMENDATIONS
International human rights law and standards Furthermore, in 2014 the UN General
establish and protect the right to defend human Assembly, in adopting resolution 68/181
rights as an autonomous and independent specifically on women human rights
right. The Declaration on the Right and defenders, acknowledged that:
Responsibilities of Individuals, Groups, “Women of all ages who engage in the
and Organs of Society to Promote and Protect promotion and protection of all human rights
Universally Recognised Human Rights and and fundamental freedoms and all people
Fundamental Freedoms – commonly known who engage in the defence of the rights of
as the Declaration on Human Rights Defenders women and gender equality, individually and
– recognizes this right and develops provisions in association with others, play an important
contained in international instruments such role, at the local, national, regional and
as the Universal Declaration on Human Rights, international levels, in the promotion and
the International Covenant on Economic, Social protection of human rights, in accordance with
and Cultural Rights, and the International the Declaration on the Right and Responsibility
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. of Individuals, Groups and Organs of Society to
Promote and Protect Universally Recognized
The Declaration on Human Rights Defenders
Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms.”
also establishes that states bear the
ultimate responsibility to protect human
rights defenders, to prevent and effectively
address allegations of human rights violations
and abuses committed against them and
related to their human rights work, and to
ensure that they can carry out their work
in a safe and enabling environment.51
51 Article 2 of the Declaration on the Right and Responsibility of Individuals, Groups and Organs of Society to Promote
and Protect Universally Recognized Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, UN Doc. A/RES/53/144 (1998).

Therefore, Amnesty International calls on the Government
of Pakistan to take the following actions:
Undertake a thorough and independent investigation into the attacks against Diep
Saeeda and all other human rights defenders who have been targeted in Pakistan;
Investigate the fraudulent use of the governmental identity – namely
the Ministry of Education and of Non-Governmental Organizations,
namely the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan;
Ensure the protection of Diep Saeeda and other human rights defenders who
come forward with allegations related to digital threats, harms and surveillance;
Publicly acknowledge the particular and significant role played by
women human rights defenders and others who work on women’s rights
or gender-related issues, and ensure that they are able to work in an
environment free from violence and discrimination of any sort;
Ensure that domestic laws governing the surveillance of communications
are in accordance with international law and standards, including by
containing effective safeguards against indiscriminate mass surveillance,
and guarantee that human rights defenders have access to the necessary
tools to secure their communications, including encryption;
Explicitly recognize the legitimacy of human rights defenders and publicly support
their work, acknowledging their contribution to the advancement of human rights;
Adopt and implement legislation which recognizes and protects human rights
defenders; and repeal or amend legislation that may place obstacles in the
way of legitimate activities to promote and defend human rights, including
with regard to the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and association;
Refrain from using language that stigmatizes, abuses, disparages or
discriminates against human rights defenders, including by characterizing
them as criminals, “foreign agents”, terrorists, undesirables or of being
morally corrupt, or threats to security, development or traditional values;
Publicly condemn the attacks, threats and intimidation
against human rights defenders;
Effectively address threats, attacks, harassment and intimidation against
human rights defenders, including, where applicable, by thoroughly,
promptly and independently investigating human rights violations
and abuses against them and bringing the suspected perpetrators to
justice in fair trials without recourse to the death penalty, and providing
effective remedies and adequate reparations to the victims;
Take all necessary measures to prevent and deter acts of intimidation and
reprisals against human rights defenders in relation to their communications
and interactions with international and regional organizations.

Amnesty International has repeatedly called on the Government of
Pakistan to end enforced disappearances and the wide range of human
rights violations involved in this practice and to fully respect the rule
of law. Amnesty International believes that the authorities should
urgently resolve the issue of enforced disappearances and end years of
state culpability and concealment. Amnesty International calls on the
authorities to build on the positive commitments to human rights it has
made in recent months and put them into action. Pakistan should:
Publicly condemn enforced disappearance under any
circumstances, and commit itself to ending the practice;
Immediately release or else reveal the fate and whereabouts of all persons
who have been subjected to enforced disappearance. Those not released
must be brought promptly before a regular civilian court, charged with
a recognizably criminal offence and, if remanded by the court, held
in an official place of detention with access to lawyers, family and the
courts and given a fair trial without imposing the death penalty;
Bring to justice all those responsible for ordering or carrying out
enforced disappearances, including by hiding the truth from
courts in judicial proceedings, irrespective of rank and status,
in proceedings which meet international standards of fair trial;
Ensure full reparations to all victims of enforced disappearance,
including families of the “disappeared”;
Immediately close all secret and undeclared places of detention
and prohibit in law the setting up of such places of detention;
Ensure that officials found responsible for committing
enforced disappearances are brought under adequate
oversight and made accountable for their actions;
Ratify the International Convention for the Protection of All
Persons from Enforced Disappearance and recognize the
competence of the Committee on Enforced Disappearances.

8
CONCLUSION
This report documents how a network While the unlawful surveillance that human
of fake social media accounts is being rights defenders are subjected to is not a new
used to infiltrate the activist communities phenomenon, the ubiquity and availability of
in Pakistan and use the work of human digital tools such as those used against Diep
rights defenders against them – luring them Saeeda and others in this report demonstrate
into giving away their Facebook or Google that the digital threats against human
log‑in credentials or downloading malicious rights defenders are quickly multiplying.
software that can spy on them through their
phones and computers. This report also Intimidating civil society in this way is
tells the story of one woman, a courageous dangerous for us all. We each rely on human
human rights defender standing up for rights defenders to advance our human
peace and freedom in her community and rights and demand that governments respect
country – and who, because of that, has them, as well as to strive for accountability
become the target of a well‑orchestrated when they don’t. When civil society is
and relentless surveillance campaign. silenced, all of our human rights are at risk.
Through the technical investigations

in this report, Amnesty International
has uncovered individuals who we believe
are responsible for building these digital
weapons of intimidation. While we cannot
know who is ultimately directly responsible
for the targeting of Diep Saeeda and
other human rights defenders in Pakistan,
we do demand that the authorities
undertake thorough and independent
investigations to identify the perpetrators.

TECHNICAL
APPENDICES
APPENDIX A:
ANALYSIS OF
CRIMSON
The operators of this campaign primarily make use of a malware framework
commonly referred to by the private cyber security sector as Crimson.
This framework is composed of a number of modules that perform different sets
of tasks. The ones we observed being used in this particular campaign include:
A downloader module – referred to by the authors as “secApp”
– which is designed to download and update the main module.
A main module – referred to by the authors as “mainApp” –
that communicates with the Command & Control server, extracting
data and executing commands provided by the operators.
A keylogger, which intercepts keystrokes and records them locally to a text file.
A file stealer, which monitors for new external USB drives and searches
and copies various types of documents from them.
The malware framework seems to be equipped with a few

other modules which we did not observe being used.

DOWNLOADER MODULE
This module sets a timer that triggers roughly every minute and executes a routine that performs
a few checks, apparently to ensure that the malware framework is running, persistent and
up-to-date. Occasionally this module was also being used directly as a first stage dropper.
Its functionality is limited and it appears to only be able to collect some basic information from the
infected computer and details of any identified antivirus software running on the computer. The
code reveals the particular process names that this malware module looks out for, including the
names of some well-known antivirus software packages:
This downloader would then check whether the main module is installed on the infected system
‘bdss=Bit Defender,onlinent=Quick Heal,bdagent=Bit Defender Agent,msseces=Microsoft

Security Essentials,fssm32=FSecure,avp=Kaspersky,avgnt=Avira,spbbcsvc=Symantec,
updaterui=McAfee,avgui=AVG,avgcc=AVG,mbam=Ant Malware,avastui=Avast,avast=Avast’
and currently running. If the main module is not present, the downloader would then initiate a
TCP connection to the Command & Control server configured in this snippet of code:
this.delluiships = new byte[]

{
49,
55,
56,
46,
50,
51,
56,
46,
50,
51,
53,
46,
50,
51,
52
};
this.port = 6512;
this.aport = 6218;
this.bport = 7610;
this.cport = 11210;
this.dport = 14786;
Similarly, the byte-array decodes to the IP address 178.238.235.234. A number of pre-configured

TCP ports are defined afterwards. Once a connection is established, the downloader will parse
any potential command provided back and eventually download and install the main module.

MAIN MODULE
Following are the commands available in the Crimson variant we observed:
COMMAND DESCRIPTION
afile Upload file to C&C
audio Download NAudio DLL
chrodll Download System.Data.SQLite
clping Set time to UTC
clrcmd Clear process attributes
clrklg Delete keylogger logs
clstats Get status of the malware
cnls Stop screen capture and other tasks
cscreen Take a screenshot of the desktop
delt Delete file
dirs List drives
dowf Download file from C&C
dowr Download file from C&C and execute
endpo Kill process
file Steal file and send it to C&C
filsz Send information on a file
fldr List folders in a directory
fles List files in a directory
info Get information on user and computer
keerun Launch keylogger if not running
listf Search and upload files
mesg Display a message box with an alert
mozedll Download mozsqlite3.dll
passl Get password logs

COMMAND DESCRIPTION
procl Get list of processes
rnnkl Launch keylogger
rnntc Launch ‘secApp’ if not running
rnnub Launch USB module if not running
runf Launch command
rupth Get path to malware
savaf Save file to disk
scren Enable screen capture
scrsz Set screen size for screen grabbing
secrun Launch ‘secApp’ if not running
secup Download and update ‘secApp’
sndpl Update password logger on disk
sndps
stops Stop screen capture
supdat Update main module
sysky Upload keylogger logs to C&C
thumb Get thumbnail from a picture
uclntn Setup persistence through registry key
udlt Delete other modules and download and execute ‘remove user’ module
uklog Update keylogger on disk
updatu Update USB module
upmain Update main module
usbrun Launch USB module if not running
usbwrm Same as ‘updatu’

KEYLOGGER MODULE
The keylogger module is very basic. It leverages .NET’s keys enumerator52 and it
regularly invokes the GetAsyncKeyState53 Windows API to monitor which keys have been
pressed. Keystrokes are then logged to a text file along with the title of the window in
which the keystrokes were entered (for example, a browser or a document editor).
The text file can normally be found in the same folder in which the keylogger
executable file is stored. In recent variants this is %ProgramData%\
Luire\. The text file would later be uploaded by the main malware module
to the Command & Control server upon request by the operators.
FILE STEALER MODULE

The file stealer module from this variant of the Crimson malware is also quite
basic and yet effective in its purpose. Once launched, the module sets a timer
that triggers every few seconds and then launches the collection routine.
This routine makes use of the DriveInfo.GetDrives54 .NET API to retrieve a list of
currently mounted drives. For each available drive, it will check whether it is ready
to access and whether it is a removable USB drive. If so, it will invoke a saveFiles
function which will walk through all files stored on the drive and store copies of
them in a local folder normally located at %ProgramData%\Bras\Data\
try
{
this.warlzmsthrRuning = true;
DriveInfo[] drives = DriveInfo.GetDrives();
DriveInfo[] array = drives;
for (inti = 0; i < array.Length; i++)
{
DriveInfodriveInfo = array[i];
if (driveInfo.IsReady && driveInfo.DriveType == DriveType.Removable)
{
this.warlzmssaveFiles(driveInfo.Name);
}
}
this.warlzmsthrRuning = false;
}
52 https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/system.windows.forms.keys%28v=vs.110%29.aspx
53 https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/ms646293%28v=vs.85%29.aspx
54 https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/system.io.driveinfo.getdrives%28v=vs.110%29.aspx

APPENDIX B:
ANALYSIS OF THE ANDROID SPYWARE
This analysis is based on the Android sample “com.gbooking.googleupdater”
(b9be1d2edf044b3c06f42f001b2a26e833f92ca92773a78a09ee0037aff174a3).
All of the samples we observed had similar functionality.
The Android malware used by this attacker is capable of collecting a large amount of
information from compromised devices. The following are some of the supported features:
Read a list of installed applications.
Collect metadata about the device, network and SIM card.
Retrieve all sent and received SMS messages.
Retrieve contact lists.
Extract saved photos, videos and audio.
Retrieve GPS location data.
Record phone calls.
Record audio when an SMS-based trigger is received.
We have not seen this actor using exploits to elevate privileges on the target devices. Instead they
rely on users accepting a large number of permissions when installing the malicious application,
providing the spyware extensive access to stored data and information on the status of the device:
android.permission.ACCESS_COARSE_LOCATION android.permission.READ_SMS
android.permission.ACCESS_FINE_LOCATION android.permission.RECEIVE_BOOT_COMPLETED
android.permission.ACCESS_NETWORK_STATE android.permission.RECEIVE_SMS
android.permission.ACCESS_WIFI_STATE android.permission.RECORD_AUDIO
android.permission.CALL_PHONE android.permission.SEND_SMS
android.permission.CAMERA android.permission.SYSTEM_ALERT_WINDOW
android.permission.CHANGE_NETWORK_STATE android.permission.USE_CREDENTIALS
android.permission.DISABLE_KEYGUARD android.permission.VIBRATE
android.permission.GET_ACCOUNTS android.permission.WAKE_LOCK
android.permission.INTERNET android.permission.WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE
android.permission.PROCESS_INCOMING_CALLS android.permission.WRITE_SETTINGS
android.permission.PROCESS_OUTGOING_CALLS android.permission.WRITE_SMS
android.permission.READ_CALENDAR com.android.browser.permis-
android.permission.READ_CALL_LOG sion.READ_HISTORY_BOOKMARKS
android.permission.READ_CONTACTS com.google.android.c2dm.permission.RECEIVE
android.permission.READ_EXTERNAL_STORAGE com.play.app.services.permission.C2D_MESSAGE
android.permission.READ_PHONE_STATE

The malware shares a significant amount of code with the commercial spyware
tool TheOneSpy. This sample contains an internal version number 1.2.6.
The current version of TheOneSpy has a version number 1.3.4.2.
The malware code has references to the collection of Viber, WhatsApp, Skype,
and Gmail application data but this functionality is not implemented in the
samples that we have observed. TheOneSpy has significantly more capabilities to
collect application-specific data from social media and messaging applications.
It appears that both tools have been developed from a common codebase.

COMMUNICATIONS WITH
COMMAND & CONTROL SERVER
All of the samples that we have observed communicate with http://158.69.159.57/. This server
is a HTTP reverse proxy to the C&C server also hosted with OVH at http://217.182.147.171/.
The malware communicates using a simple JSON-based protocol over HTTP. There is no ability
for the operators to send arbitrary commands to the device, or to download and execute new code.
/admin/newuser.php
The malware checks-in to the C&C server when the application starts by sending a JSON POST
request containing the IMEI number (a unique 15-digit identifier) of the device.
{“imei”: “IMEI”, “tag”:”TAG”}
The C&C server responds with what appears to be configuration data for the malware.
{“status”:{“code”:200,”message”:”success”},”response”:{“settings”:{“state”:”1”,
”dataSending”:”1”,”sms”:”1”,”voice”:”1”,”cellid”:”0”,”browserhistory”:”
0”,”pictures”:”0”,”videos”:”0”,”gpsInterval”:”1”,”recording”:”0”,
”numbers”:[“”],”videoTime”:[“”],”audioTime”:[“”],”camTime”:[“”]}}}
The samples we have seen do not appear to read or use the configuration data from this response.
/admin/data/collectdata-new.php
This endpoint receives textual data uploaded from the device such as SMS messages,
call logs and location data. This data is first read and queued in a SQLite database on the
device. Every 10 seconds the PostData task is run to check for and upload any queued
data. The data is then deleted from this SQLite database after a successful upload.

/admin/data/fcollectdata.php
This endpoint receives files that are uploaded from the device such as pictures, videos, and audio
recordings. The application sends a multipart POST request containing the file to upload and
some JSON metadata about the file.
json=’{“imei”: “IMEI”, “category”: “gl”: {“file” “FILENAME”,

“locationLattitude”: “LATITUDE”, “locationLongitude”: “LONGITUDE”,
“photoTakenDate”: “DATE”, “photoName”: “NAME”, “photoType”: “TYPE”}}’
file=UPLOAD_FILE_DATA
Specific metadata is provided for each of the different categories of uploads. These
categories are CR (recorded calls), GL (photos), VD (videos), and AU (audio recordings).
Remotely enabling recording from microphone

The attackers can also interact with the malware via SMS. The application has two hard-coded
trigger words which can be used to start recording audio from the microphone for a fixed period of
time. These records are saved to the phone in mp3 format and are then uploaded to the C&C
server.
this.mMessage = currentMessage.getDisplayMessageBody();
if (this.mMessage.contains(“StartMicBug”) ||
this.mMessage.contains(“M@ic8k”)) {
int duration =
Integer.parseInt(this.mMessage.substring
(this.mMessage.indexOf(“:”) + 1, this.mMessage.length()).replaceAll(“ “, “”));
if (duration == 2 || duration == 5 || duration == 15 || duration == 30) {
Util.Log(“Record mic for “ + duration + “ min”);
recordMic(context, duration);
abortBroadcast();
setResultData(null);
}

LIST OF INDICATORS OF COMPROMISE
Following are Indicators of Compromise to help security analysts and
practitioners to implement detection and countermeasures:
Phishing Domains
secure-apps.azurewebsites[.]net
facebook-snaps.azurewebsites[.]net
secure-google.azurewebsites[.]net
proworld.azurewebsites[.]net
Crimson Installers
fed30e911ca255e45b9ceca2a86bb8285b98e38e94ddcf92092f6f76e5e6fcce
754d48079f1119bc73e5e0b7bbc8231615dd84bc7c741a9b883f5d885b4a9b64
bd5f33d8415cb1b63c726325e7a0072c4fcae45fd2b1daa86644c42d60e11d1e
b4ef40ff06ca99933581f0e296bffaaf20d80191e0669b45e2a01c9ccf6c4b95
Crimson Downloader “secApp”

6827202bcc85190bb24922548b056cde56781ac7df82873da61de99b6e0a381f
84832c538044bacd3e6ac362255307961371a9018f130dfe8e0d04fbf3a6f89f
4cfb6e249088e06015fb9f1f672ecebe2915b587409b6a86e8a41f72adabb537
Crimson Main Module

d8e7ad4696cc587b13bd986d958e6347934f19da2b4c7ccab7fe9492f78ba64c
Crimson Keylogger
da90010782f69aadc6e890b1699d3878b7b33ba1c5b940593189a9f4f084fa8a
Crimson File Stealer

d37895152373ee366e51041502b220f88b018fa2c1f4c8206d21b46c3f0fbf14
Crimson Command & Controls

178.238.235.234 173.249.11.147
5.189.157.215 173.249.13.208
5.189.173.153 173.249.21.206
80.241.209.33 173.249.25.237
91.205.172.142 213.136.72.216
173.212.216.205 213.136.94.203
173.212.221.224
StealthAgent
b9be1d2edf044b3c06f42f001b2a26e833f92ca92773a78a09ee0037aff174a3
294b1766a376ffffd00666f1d539a70fdedf4fa256a01c3bd1b9cd795bd05f0e
3a64e83078fb1a81dccab4d6b2e4d9f057890a73804a7d614ac548cf1d6f348b
StealthAgent Command & Controls

51.255.13.89 164.132.182.141
137.74.147.190 164.132.182.142
137.74.221.193 178.33.140.197
137.74.221.199 178.33.140.198
149.56.237.148 217.182.147.171
158.69.159.57
158.69.159.58

NOTIFICATION
LETTERS AND
RESPONSES

NOTIFICATION LETTER SENT TO OVH
OVH SAS
2 rue Kellermann
FROM AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL

59100
Roubaix
FRANCE
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL INTERNATIONAL SECRETARIAT
Email: abuse@ovh.net
Peter Benenson House, 1 Easton Street
London WC1X 0DW, United Kingdom
SENT TO OVH VIA EMAIL ON 9 MAY 2018

T: +44 (0)20 7413 5500 F: +44 (0)20 7956 1157
E: amnestyis@amnesty.org W: www.amnesty.org
09 May 2018
Dear Mr Klaba,
RE: NOTIFICATION OF OVH INFRASTRUCTURE CONNECTED TO SURVEILLANCE OF HUMAN RIGHTS

DEFENDERS IN PAKISTAN
I am writing to you in relation to a report that Amnesty intends to publish shortly. The report outlines the findings of
Amnesty International on the digital threats and attacks faced by human rights defenders and civil society in
Pakistan. Amnesty International has uncovered targeting of individuals using malicious surveillance technologies and
malware. The report provides evidence on who is involved with these attacks and the techniques they are using to
try and gain access to both personal and professional information of Pakistani human rights defenders.
This is a formal notification letter to inform you that you have been named in our report. To be clear Amnesty
International does not make any allegations against you in our report. There is no comment made in relation to the
safety of your servers or your due diligence processes. Amnesty International routinely notifies companies and
individuals named in reports we publish regardless of the extent of their involvement. I have provided a summary of
our report findings (in relation to OVH) below and annexed extracts from our report at the end of this letter (Annex
A). As you are aware we first emailed you on 07 May 2018 informing you that Amnesty International had identified
malicious infrastructure that is being used to deliver and operate Android malware. We requested that you take action
and shutdown services that are connected to this abuse (Annex B). As of today, we have not received a response to
that email.
Our investigations have revealed that some of the targeted malware samples we have collected communicate with an
OVH server located in Canada. This server is acting as a reverse proxy for the actual Command and Control server
which is also an OVH server, located in France. The malware in question is called ‘StealthAgent’. StealthAgent is a
custom-built Android spyware.
According to registration records in the RIPE database, we found that the OVH Command and Control server in
question is registered to a private individual in Pakistan.
We have uncovered additional OVH servers from internet scan data which are also acting as reverse proxies for the
French Command and Control server. Although there can be many reasons for this particular reverse proxy server
configuration – we note that it is most commonly used to mask the location of the actual Control & Command server
and thwart investigations and security analysts.
We invite you to provide us with any comments or clarification that you may have on the information contained in
this letter. We intend to publish our findings and your response in our report. To enable us to consider incorporating
this into the report, please respond by email to Mr Sherif Elsayed-Ali (sherif.elsayedali@amnesty.org) by 12pm on
Monday, 14th May 2018.
Company Registration: 01606776 Registered in England and Wales
Yours sincerely,

NOTIFICATION LETTER SENT TO CONTABO
Contabo GmbH
Aschauer Straße 32a

81549 Munich,
Germany
Tel: +49 89 3564717 70
Fax: +49 89 216 658 62 AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL INTERNATIONAL SECRETARIAT
Email: abuse@contabo.com Peter Benenson House, 1 Easton Street
London WC1X 0DW, United Kingdom
SENT TO CONTABO VIA EMAIL ON 9 MAY 2018

T: +44 (0)20 7413 5500 F: +44 (0)20 7956 1157
09 May 2018
Dear Mr Herpich,
RE: NOTIFICATION OF CONTABO GMBH INFRASTRUCTURE CONNECTED TO SURVEILLANCE OF HUMAN

RIGHTS DEFENDERS IN PAKISTAN
I am writing to you in relation to a report that Amnesty International intends to publish shortly. The report outlines
the findings of Amnesty International on the digital threats and attacks faced by human rights defenders and civil
society in Pakistan. Amnesty International has uncovered targeting of individuals using malicious surveillance
technologies and malware. The report provides evidence on who is involved with these attacks and the techniques
they are using to try and gain access to both personal and professional information of Pakistani human rights
defenders.
On anuary , we first contacted you in relation to this matter and informed you on anuary that
one of your servers was being used for malware attacks targeting human rights defenders in Pakistan and asked to
work with you to ensure that this malware communication is halted. These emails are annexed to this letter (Annex
A). As the emails show the malware campaign continued on other Contabo GmbH servers after the previous ones
were shut down - this was detected by Amnesty International. As you are aware the last email we sent to you was
on the 07 May 2018 requesting that further servers are shut down due to malware communication (Annex B).
This is a formal notification letter to inform you that you have been named in our report. To be clear Amnesty
International does not make any allegations against you in our report. There is no comment made in relation to the
safety of your servers or your due diligence processes. Amnesty International routinely notifies companies
and individuals named in reports we publish regardless of the extent of their involvement. I have provided a
summary of our report findings (in relation to Contabo GmbH) below and annexed extracts from our report at the
end of this letter (Annex C).
To summarise, our investigations have revealed that some of the targeted malware samples we have collected
connect back to a set of Command and Control servers leased from Contabo GmbH. The malware in question is
called Crimson. Crimson is a spyware tool which allows an attacker to perform extensive and long-term digital
surveillance after gaining access to a device According to our analysis, the attackers we have identified managed
to continue using your services since at least 2016.
In our report, we note that attackers identified by other private sector reports using this specific ‘Crimson
RAT’ malware are found to ‘favour’ Contabo GmbH to run their malicious infrastructure. We also list a number of
Contabo GmbH servers that we identify as currently hosting Crimson RAT Command & Controls.
this letter. We intend to publish this letter and your response in our report. To enable us to consider incorporating
Company Registration: 01606776 Registered
this into the report, please respond by email to Mr Sherif Elsayed-Ali (sherif.elsayedali@amnesty.org) in England
by 12pm onand Wales
Yours sincerely,

STATEMENT FROM CONTABO
RECEIVED BY AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL ON 14 MAY 2018
Contabo does not allow or tolerate the misuse of servers for abuse,
as stated in our TOS. All VPS and dedicated servers we provide are
so‑called “root” servers, i.e. the customer receives full control over them,
which is commonplace in the hosting industry. Contabo does not have
access to these servers after handing control over to the customer.
We are very sympathetic to Amnesty’s cause and have worked together with Amnesty
in the past in order to remove malware from a small number of severs in our network
that had been affected. The same is true for the current case, we are in the process
of completely removing the infected or purposely infected servers from our network
‑ at the moment of this writing we cannot be sure if the affected servers have been
hacked. The number of affected servers represents a tiny fraction of our network.

NOTIFICATION LETTER SENT TO FAISAL
HANIF FROM AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL
SENT TO FAISAL HANIF VIA EMAIL ON 11 MAY 2018
Evidence of these threats and attacks is deeply concerning in the already perilous situation for human rights
defenders in Pakistan - a country where activists working amongst a myriad of issues are harassed, attacked and
even disappear on a regular basis. Amnesty International believes that your involvement in these attacks has directly
threatened the safety and security of the individuals targeted. In our report Amnesty International calls on the
Government of Pakistan to fully investigate the allegations made in our report.
Yours sincerely,

RESPONSE EMAIL FROM FAISAL HANIF
From: Faisal Hanif imfanee@gmail.com

Subject: Re: Amnesty International Notification Letter
Date: 11 May 2018 at 13:05
To: *
Hi *,
Thanks for the query. I received few notification this morning that some of online devices causing this type of
unethical disturbance which are associated to my name.
I have investigated all of my online devices and found some of them was compromised and hacked by some
anonymous hacker. I have reported all the suspicious devices to data center and asked to block and shutdown
the devices @ 11/05/2018 14:07 until we clear that by offline investigation.
We are investigating the reported devices to find the traces if we are able to find any clue about hacker. As this
activity is not that simple to find the traces so it may take few days.
I will will be able to update you situation once we completed the investigation.
Regards,
Faisal
On 11 May 2018 at 15:44, * <*@*.*> wrote:
Dear Mr. Hanif,
Attached please find a formal notification letter to inform you that you have been named in a forthcoming Amnesty International
report regarding targeted digital attacks against human rights defenders in Pakistan.
We invite you to provide us with any comments or clarification that you may have on the information contained in this letter. We
intend to publish this letter and your response in our report. To enable us to consider incorporating this into the report, please
respond by email to Mr Sherif Elsayed-Ali (sherif.elsayedali@amnesty.org) by 12pm on Monday, 14th May 2018.
Sincerely,
Joshua Franco
Joshua Franco
Head of Technology and Human Rights
Amnesty International
DISCLAIMER
This email has been sent by Amnesty International Limited (a company registered in England and Wales limited by
guarantee, number 01606776 with a registered office at 1 Easton St, London WC1X 0DW). Internet
communications are not secure and therefore Amnesty International does not accept legal responsibility for the
contents of this message. If you are not the intended recipient you must not disclose or rely on the information in
this e-mail. Any views or opinions presented are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those
of Amnesty International unless specifically stated. Electronic communications including email might be monitored
by Amnesty International for operational or business reasons..
--
Regards,
Faisal Hanif

NOTIFICATION LETTER SENT TO OX-I-GEN
AMNESTY
Muhammed Yasir Javed
Ox-i-Gen INTERNATIONAL
info@ox-i-gen.com
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL INTERNATIONAL SECRETARIAT
SENT TO OX-I-GEN VIA EMAIL ON 11 MAY 2018 Peter Benenson House, 1 Easton Street
London WC!X 0DW, United Kingdom
T: +44 (0)20 7413 5500 F: +44 (0)20 7956 1157
11 May 2018
Dear Mr Javed
RE: OX-I-GEN'S ROLE IN SURVEILLANCE OF HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS IN PAKISTAN
I am writing to you in relation to a report that Amnesty intends to publish shortly. The report outlines the findings of
Amnesty International on the digital threats and attacks faced by human rights defenders and civil society in
Pakistan. Amnesty International has uncovered targeting of individuals using malicious surveillance technologies and
malware. The report provides evidence on who is involved with these attacks and the techniques they are using to
try and gain access to both personal and professional information of Pakistani human rights defenders.
This is a formal notification letter to inform you that Ox-i-Gen has been named in our report. Amnesty International
concludes that there is a connection between Ox-i-Gen and another company 'Superlnnovative'. The report presents
the similarities between Ox-i-Gen's product 'TheOneSpy' and a malware used to target human rights defenders in
Pakistan named 'StealthAgent' (which Amnesty believes was created by 'Superlnnovative').
Amnesty International believe this may have occurred because both malwares were created by the same developers
or that Ox-i-Gen shared an early version of their product with 'Superlnnovative'. Our report concludes that it is likely
that Superlnnovative used 'TheOneSpy' to create a 'customized alternative version', which has been seen in
surveillance operations used to target persons in Pakistan.
We note in our report that you worked at 'Vopium' the same company as Superlnnovative founder - Faisal Hanif. We
believe that you have a long-standing relation with Faisal Hanif and this could be why there are links between his
spyware 'StealthAgent' and 'TheOneSpy'.
even disappear on a regular basis. In our report Amnesty International calls on the Government of Pakistan to fully
investigate the allegations made.
Yours sincerely,

RESPONSE EMAIL FROM OX-I-GEN
From: Ox-I-Gen info@ox-i-gen.com

Subject: RE Amnesty International Notification Letter
Date: 11 May 2018 at 18:36
To: *
Cc: *
Thanks, * and Mr. *,
Please find my response against your notification.
Subject: Ox-i-Gen /parental control software company
I am writing to you in response to your False and baseless allegations. I Muhammad

Yasir Javed owner of Ox-i-gen INC. protesting against the claims that you have made
against my company allegedly involved in the development of so-called malicious
surveillance technologies and malware. I want to you to do some research work
about my business and then come up with true facts and figures rather than just
making a castle in the air. I am running a company that is doing social work and
provide parenting software to the parents via “TheOneSpy.com” online website.
We believe in serving humanity rather than just making pennies. However, we

don’t provide our parental control software to general public living in Pakistan because
we know that there is not a trend of parenting to the fullest, but in the countries that
have laws about parental control. So, we did not have access to both personal and
professional information of Pakistani human rights defenders. Furthermore, you
have also claimed that there is the connection between Ox-i-gen INC and
“SuperInnovative”.
I object again, we are the independent company and we don’t know where from you
have got the news. I will sue you in the court of law because there is an element of
deformation in your report, that is totally fact less and lacking with proofs. We are not
doing a hidden or secret business. We are openly selling a product that protect
children from online predators, prevents social media addiction; make parents to stay
update about kids inappropriate use of internet such as watching carnal content and
plenty of others.
TheOneSpy is purely parenting control software product that we provide parents that
have no time to look after their kids and teens online activities via cell phone devices.
On the other hands, the rise and the rise in social media dangers and online predators
such as cyber bullies, stalkers, sexual predators and child abusers. TheOneSpy has
taken a step and believe in the world that is fair, equal, and free from online predators.
Moreover, there is no link between Ox-i-Gen INC and your introduced
“SuperInnovative. You can read our blogs that convincingly inform the reader
about parenting, parenting tips and how to use TheOneSpy parenting software.
Anyhow, if digital parenting is the crime, then we are doing this crime! The third
allegation that you have put on us is that I have worked in “Vopium” with Faisal Hanif.
I object further and let me tell, yes I have worked at “Vopium” but I don’t know about
Mr. Faisal Hanif. Because, May there is time difference that we have worked in the
same company, but not at the same time period.
“We are the part of the Human rights defenders because we are doing an online
social work by selling parental control software and you can further read our website
disclaimer. That’s all I want to say and clarify about my business. We deeply
concerned about your allegations
allegations that
that are
are hurting,
hurting, but
but we
we have
have right
right to
to defend
defend our
our self
self
and you should take care what you are going to say someone who has no idea that
allegations you have made. In the end, I must draw your attention that we are doing
business about patenting software. However, if you are one of those parents who are
insecure about their children digital safety, we will be at your service. It would be an
honor that you yourself test our product. However, if you think our product has
misused and someone has purchased our license online and then has used to spy on
someone that is the part of Pakistani human rights defenders.
Then I would appreciate your efforts in the way that you can point out someone that
has involved in breaching someone’s privacy in the name of digital parenting. We
would like to track the culprit having your piece of assistance. Furthermore, we are
great admirers of the AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL that always come up with the facts
and stats about such activities. We assure you, we would like to work together and
reveal the faces that use the parental control software for spying on someone’s
privacy and breaching private information of both personal and professional
information of Pakistani human rights defenders. It’s our moral responsibility to work
with your shoulder to shoulder. Let us join your piece of investigation to unveil the
truth that allegations and assumptions that you have made against us are not true.
Thanks!
Best Regards.
M.Javed
From: *
Sent: Friday, 11 May 2018 4:47 PM
To: info@ox-i-gen.com
Amnesty International Subject: Amnesty International Notification Letter 73
Dear Mr. Javed,
Attached please find a formal notification letter to inform you that your company,
NOTIFICATION LETTER SENT
TO SUPERINNOVATIVE FROM
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL
SENT TO SUPERINNOVATIVE VIA EMAIL ON 11 MAY 2018
Amnesty International also believe that there is a connection between Superlnnovative and other operators who have
targeted human rights defenders in Pakistan using a different spyware named 'Crimson'.
even disappear on a regular basis. Amnesty International believes that your involvement in these attacks has directly
threatened the safety and security of the individuals targeted. In our report Amnesty International calls on the
Government of Pakistan to fully investigate the allegations made.
Yours sincerely,

NOTIFICATION LETTER SENT TO ASIM KHAN
(LIAQUAT) FROM AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL
SENT TO ASIM KHAN (LIAQUAT) VIA EMAIL ON 11 MAY 2018
We also note that you ask for advice on how to write some code for an Android application that "secretly forwards
received SMS to another phone number and delete the sent SMS from inbox".
In addition, we disclose that an email address linked to you, secure.infopolicy@gmail.com, was included in the
source code of a fake Google Play Store page. This page was used to lure targets into downloading a custom
Android malware tool known as "StealthAgent". This malware link was sent to our human rights defender in
Pakistan.
even disappear on a regular basis. Amnesty international cannot prove that you were directly involved in the targeting
of the human rights defender named in the report, but it appears likely that you were involved in the development of
the phishing pages. Amnesty International believes that your involvement in these attacks has directly threatened
the safety and security of the individuals targeted. In our report Amnesty International calls on the Government of
Pakistan to fully investigate the allegations made.
this letter. We intend to publish our findings and may include part or all of your response in our report. To enable us
to consider incorporating this into the report, please respond by email to Mr Sherif Elsayed-Ali
(sheriff.elsayedali@amnesty.org) by 12pm on Monday, 14th May 2018.
Yours sincerely,

NOTIFICATION LETTER SENT TO ZAHIR
RASHEED FROM AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL
SENT TO ZAHIR RASHEED VIA EMAIL ON 11 MAY 2018
even disappear on a regular basis. In our report Amnesty International calls on the Government of Pakistan to fully
investigate the allegations made in our report.
Yours sincerely,

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL
IS A GLOBAL MOVEMENT
FOR HUMAN RIGHTS.
WHEN INJUSTICE HAPPENS
TO ONE PERSON, IT
MATTERS TO US ALL.
CONTACT US JOIN THE CONVERSATION

info@amnesty.org www.facebook.com/AmnestyGlobal
+44 (0)20 7413 5500 @Amnesty

Human rights can only be upheld where civil society operates
without fear or the risk of aggression. Pakistani civil society,
however, is under attack from a sophisticated and malicious
digital campaign. As this report documents, Diep Saeeda,
a well-known Pakistani human rights defender, has been
the target of sustained digital attacks for the past two
years. She and other activists continue to be attacked
with extremely personalized messages that target their
phones, computers and online accounts in an attempt
to steal their information and carry out surveillance.
This targeted surveillance of civil society in Pakistan

is a tool of repression, and has the chilling effect
of silencing human rights defenders. Among its
recommendations, this report calls on the Government
of Pakistan to conduct a thorough and independent
investigation into Amnesty International’s findings and
hold to account those responsible for the attacks.

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HUMAN RIGHTS

© Amnesty International 2018

First published in 2018

Index: ASA 33/8366/2018

3 The digital threat to civil society 13

4 Targeting of Diep Saeeda 16

5 Targeting of other Human Rights Defenders in Pakistan 26

6 Who is behind these attacks? 30

Appendix B: Analysis of the Android spyware 61

Notification Letters and Responses 66

PHISHING A form of cyber attack in which fake login pages of legitimate

MALWARE Malicious software that is designed to be silently installed on

SPYWARE Particular kind of malware that is designed to stealthily spy

RAT Acronym for Remote Access Trojan/Tool. It is another term

ATTACKERS The individuals who are carrying out a particular campaign

COMMAND A Command & Control (C&C) server is the network infrastructure

Diep Saeeda received the first suspicious These emails and messages, at times extremely

HUMAN RIGHTS UNDER SURVEILLANCE

Crimson is believed to be a custom

HUMAN RIGHTS UNDER SURVEILLANCE

HUMAN RIGHTS UNDER SURVEILLANCE

UNDER THREAT news of their whereabouts or wellbeing.

An enforced disappearance involves the denial

energies to building links between Indians disappearance. The UN Working Group on

and Pakistanis, is feared to have been Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances has

1 Articles 9, 10 and 10A of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.

HUMAN RIGHTS UNDER SURVEILLANCE

HUMAN RIGHTS UNDER SURVEILLANCE

In order to respond to these attacks, which

The identities of many of the victims

In several cases the attackers behind this

HUMAN RIGHTS UNDER SURVEILLANCE

THE DIGITAL THREAT

Malware is software that is developed

Spyware is a common term used to

HUMAN RIGHTS UNDER SURVEILLANCE

HUMAN RIGHTS UNDER SURVEILLANCE

WHY DO THEY Even more disturbingly, the secretive and

HUMAN RIGHTS UNDER SURVEILLANCE

“Sana had been trying to develop my trust – talking

HUMAN RIGHTS UNDER SURVEILLANCE

HUMAN RIGHTS UNDER SURVEILLANCE

A SUSPICIOUS of the operators of this account were to

2 The fake profile of Sana Halimi is an example

FRIEND of an attacker purporting to be a person

HUMAN RIGHTS UNDER SURVEILLANCE

HUMAN RIGHTS UNDER SURVEILLANCE

appearing to include photos of a operating system. In this case,

HUMAN RIGHTS UNDER SURVEILLANCE

5 Later on, as the conversation continued, 6 In a further attempt to compromise

These messages are highly manipulative,

5 Amnesty International, ‘Pakistan: Peace activist missing’, 6 December 2017.

HUMAN RIGHTS UNDER SURVEILLANCE

HUMAN RIGHTS UNDER SURVEILLANCE

HUMAN RIGHTS UNDER SURVEILLANCE

8 Hash of the file bd5f33d8415cb1b63c726325e7a0072c4fcae45fd2b1daa86644c42d60e11d1e

HUMAN RIGHTS UNDER SURVEILLANCE

CRIMSON Intercept keystrokes (anything

IN PAKISTAN Download and execute files.31