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This is a story of how the US, UK, and Interpol gave #Ghana's security forces technology to break into locked phones, bypass encryption, and extract information.
Journalists worry these tools may be used against them—they have reason.
A THREAD: https://cpj.org/2020/07/us-uk-interpol-give-ghana-phone-hacking-tools-raising-journalist-concerns-on-safety-and-confidentiality/
Journalists worry these tools may be used against them—they have reason.
A THREAD: https://cpj.org/2020/07/us-uk-interpol-give-ghana-phone-hacking-tools-raising-journalist-concerns-on-safety-and-confidentiality/
In May 2019, the US gifted Ghana technology made by the Israel-based Cellebrite corporation.
Cellebrite's website says their tools can "[b]reakthrough complicated locks and encryption barriers to extract deleted and unknown content." https://cpj.org/2020/07/us-uk-interpol-give-ghana-phone-hacking-tools-raising-journalist-concerns-on-safety-and-confidentiality/
![In May 2019, the US gifted Ghana technology made by the Israel-based Cellebrite corporation.Cellebrite's website says their tools can "[b]reakthrough complicated locks and encryption barriers to extract deleted and unknown content." https://cpj.org/2020/07/us-uk-interpol-give-ghana-phone-hacking-tools-raising-journalist-concerns-on-safety-and-confidentiality/](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Ec-L7BSXYAIGSO3.png "In May 2019, the US gifted Ghana technology made by the Israel-based Cellebrite corporation.Cellebrite's website says their tools can \"[b]reakthrough complicated locks and encryption barriers to extract deleted and unknown content.\" https://cpj.org/2020/07/us-uk-interpol-give-ghana-phone-hacking-tools-raising-journalist-concerns-on-safety-and-confidentiality/")
Cellebrite's website says their tools can "[b]reakthrough complicated locks and encryption barriers to extract deleted and unknown content." https://cpj.org/2020/07/us-uk-interpol-give-ghana-phone-hacking-tools-raising-journalist-concerns-on-safety-and-confidentiality/
#Ghana also received Cellebrite tools from Interpol in 2017.
In 2016, Cellebrite signed an agreement to provide Interpol with “digital forensic equipment and training services over a three-year period”: https://www.interpol.int/en/News-and-Events/News/2016/INTERPOL-agreement-with-Cellebrite-strengthens-efforts-in-combating-cybercrime
In 2016, Cellebrite signed an agreement to provide Interpol with “digital forensic equipment and training services over a three-year period”: https://www.interpol.int/en/News-and-Events/News/2016/INTERPOL-agreement-with-Cellebrite-strengthens-efforts-in-combating-cybercrime
In 2019, @pressfreedom documented the use of Cellebrite’s Universal Forensic Extraction Device (UFED) by security forces in #Nigeria, and how the military targeted journalists’ phones and computers with a “forensic search” trying to reveal their sources. https://cpj.org/blog/2019/10/nigerian-military-target-journalists-phones-forensic-search.php
Six days before the US gave the same tools to Ghana, @TMclaughlin3 reported in @washingtonpost on how police used Cellebrite tech to retrieve documents from journalists’ phones in #Myanmar. https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/security-tech-companies-once-flocked-to-myanmar-one-firms-tools-were-used-against-two-journalists-/2019/05/04/d4e9f7f0-5b5d-11e9-b8e3-b03311fbbbfe_story.html
Amid the #coronavirus pandemic, Cellebrite has pitched its technology to help authorities access devices of infected people to trace their contacts, @joel_schectman, @Bing_Chris, and @jc_stubbs reported with @Reuters in April. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-spy-specialreport/special-report-cyber-intel-firms-pitch-governments-on-spy-tools-to-trace-coronavirus-idUSKCN22A2G1
“If a state agency can decode my system without access to my password, that is scary,” said @EmmanuelDogbevi of @GhBusinessNews.
Dogbevi, an @ICIJorg member, has reported offshore finances and #Ghana’s purchase from Israel-based spyware company NSO Group. https://cpj.org/2020/07/us-uk-interpol-give-ghana-phone-hacking-tools-raising-journalist-concerns-on-safety-and-confidentiality/
Dogbevi, an @ICIJorg member, has reported offshore finances and #Ghana’s purchase from Israel-based spyware company NSO Group. https://cpj.org/2020/07/us-uk-interpol-give-ghana-phone-hacking-tools-raising-journalist-concerns-on-safety-and-confidentiality/
. @EmmanuelDogbevi told CPJ that many sources were already hesitant to speak for fear of being identified, and the pattern of Ghanaian authorities trying to intimidate journalists left him worried he too may be targeted. https://cpj.org/africa/ghana/
A 2019 British Immigration Enforcement document appears to show that the agency supplied #Ghana’s Immigration Service with Detego link digital forensics equipment made by U.K.-based MCM Solutions (the document misspells the equipment as “Detago”). https://devflow.northeurope.cloudapp.azure.com/files/documents/IEI-ODA-Benefits-Assessment-20190927020943.pdf
Detego can “[e]xtract and seamlessly analyse data from multiple devices,” according to MCM’s website.
They also advertise the ability to “recover and break through passwords.” https://www.mcmsolutions.co.uk/solutions/unified-digital-forensics-platform/lab-based-forensics/detego-with-passware/
![Detego can “[e]xtract and seamlessly analyse data from multiple devices,” according to MCM’s website. They also advertise the ability to “recover and break through passwords.” https://www.mcmsolutions.co.uk/solutions/unified-digital-forensics-platform/lab-based-forensics/detego-with-passware/](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Ec-XrGuXgAA-QwO.png "Detego can “[e]xtract and seamlessly analyse data from multiple devices,” according to MCM’s website. They also advertise the ability to “recover and break through passwords.” https://www.mcmsolutions.co.uk/solutions/unified-digital-forensics-platform/lab-based-forensics/detego-with-passware/")
They also advertise the ability to “recover and break through passwords.” https://www.mcmsolutions.co.uk/solutions/unified-digital-forensics-platform/lab-based-forensics/detego-with-passware/
In March 2019, MCM Solutions posted it was in #Ghana “conducting an advanced [Detego] training course for a number of specialist units.”
MCM told CPJ that they had multiple clients in Ghana, but did not respond about which security agencies had the tech. https://twitter.com/MCM_Solutions/status/1107966215874580480
MCM told CPJ that they had multiple clients in Ghana, but did not respond about which security agencies had the tech. https://twitter.com/MCM_Solutions/status/1107966215874580480
John-Paul Backwell, MCM Solutions’ global sales and marketing director, said their ambition was to have their technology “used for good” to “solve security challenges,” but acknowledged the company “cannot always control how a customer uses the software.” https://cpj.org/2020/07/us-uk-interpol-give-ghana-phone-hacking-tools-raising-journalist-concerns-on-safety-and-confidentiality/
In June 2019, #Ghana’s National Security Ministry arrested editor Emmanuel Ajarfor Abugri and reporter Emmanuel Yeboah Britwum, both of @modernghanaweb, held them for days, and searched their phones and computers in an effort to reveal their sources. https://cpj.org/2019/07/two-ghanaian-journalists-arrested-on-cybercrime-ch.php
Abugri told CPJ his devices were taken to an “IT room” and he was forced to give the officers his passwords. “They were going into my gadgets,” he said.
The police and National Security Ministry still have his phones, tablet, and computer.
He sued. https://africaneyereport.com/journalists-torture-national-security-igp-ag-sued/
The police and National Security Ministry still have his phones, tablet, and computer.
He sued. https://africaneyereport.com/journalists-torture-national-security-igp-ag-sued/
“Sometimes in journalism there are certain information that are very confidential to you…having those information on your gadgets and those same gadgets are in the hands of certain people [security forces], I feel threatened,” Abugri told CPJ. https://cpj.org/2020/07/us-uk-interpol-give-ghana-phone-hacking-tools-raising-journalist-concerns-on-safety-and-confidentiality/
. @Manasseh_Azure, a freelance investigative journalist, said the @modernghanaweb arrests and seizure of their devices shows journalists and sources are vulnerable:
“If it has happened to some journalists, it is possible it can happen to me.” https://cpj.org/2020/07/us-uk-interpol-give-ghana-phone-hacking-tools-raising-journalist-concerns-on-safety-and-confidentiality/
“If it has happened to some journalists, it is possible it can happen to me.” https://cpj.org/2020/07/us-uk-interpol-give-ghana-phone-hacking-tools-raising-journalist-concerns-on-safety-and-confidentiality/
“It can exert a chilling effect on press freedom,” Roland Affail Monney, president of the #Ghana Journalists Association, told @pressfreedom of security forces’ capacity to break into journalists’ phones and computers. https://cpj.org/2020/07/us-uk-interpol-give-ghana-phone-hacking-tools-raising-journalist-concerns-on-safety-and-confidentiality/
Maame Yaa Tiwaa Addo-Danquah, a former CID director general now heading #Ghana's police welfare, told CPJ that in 2019 they also received:
- From the US: UltraBlock, a digital forensics tool made by the Digital Intelligence corporation
- From the UK: IBM i2 Analyze
- From the US: UltraBlock, a digital forensics tool made by the Digital Intelligence corporation
- From the UK: IBM i2 Analyze
The US embassy in Ghana told CPJ in an emailed statement that it gave the country’s police and the Economic and the Organized Crime Office (EOCO) “assistance to enhance their capability in investigating cyber-related offenses” with technology and training. https://gh.usembassy.gov/inl-and-fbi-cyber-investigations-pilot-project-donation-ceremony-remarks-by-amb-sullivan/
The US embassy to Ghana said those who were trained underwent “Leahy vetting,” a reference to US laws that prohibit spending on foreign security forces implicated in human rights abuses. It did not directly answer questions specific to UFED and UltraBlock. https://www.state.gov/key-topics-bureau-of-democracy-human-rights-and-labor/human-rights/leahy-law-fact-sheet/
Procurement documents (linked in the CPJ report) and a report by @Nextgov indicate that in December 2018 the US embassy in #Ghana made a request to purchase Cellebrite and UltraBlock technology. https://www.nextgov.com/cybersecurity/2018/12/state-department-buying-phone-hacking-tools-ghanaian-police/153514/
The US government request specified Cellebrite's UFED be capable of “extraction” and “decoding” of major cellphone models, including Android, Blackberry, Nokia, and Huawei, as well as GPS systems like TomTom: https://cpj.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/US_Embassy_Ghana_Copy_Combined_Synopsis_Solicitation.pdf
According to a US government database, State Department contracts were awarded to two US-based companies—BIT DIRECT INC and Lyme Computer Systems, Inc—for cyber investigations equipment for Ghana.
CPJ's efforts to reach both companies went unanswered. https://www.fpds.gov/ezsearch/fpdsportal?indexName=awardfull&templateName=1.5.1&s=FPDS.GOV&q=19GE5019Q0002&x=0&y=0
CPJ's efforts to reach both companies went unanswered. https://www.fpds.gov/ezsearch/fpdsportal?indexName=awardfull&templateName=1.5.1&s=FPDS.GOV&q=19GE5019Q0002&x=0&y=0
Other contract listings indicate that in recent years US embassies around the world have ordered equipment directly from Cellebrite: https://www.fpds.gov/ezsearch/fpdsportal?q=Cellebrite+embassy&s=FPDS.GOV&templateName=1.5.1&indexName=awardfull&x=0&y=0&start=0
CPJ’s questions emailed to Cellebrite’s press office and Masao Koda, a representative for Cellebrite’s Japan-based parent company, Sun Corporation, were not answered before publication. https://cpj.org/2020/07/us-uk-interpol-give-ghana-phone-hacking-tools-raising-journalist-concerns-on-safety-and-confidentiality/
UltraBlock facilitates the extraction of information from hard drives, but does not have decryption capacity, Chris Stippich, the president of Digital Intelligence, told CPJ. He said company policy did not permit him to comment on their customers. https://digitalintelligence.com/products/ultrablock
CPJ emailed the British High Commission in Accra in mid-June requesting an interview regarding UK digital forensics support for Ghanaian law enforcement, but no interview was arranged before publication. https://cpj.org/2020/07/us-uk-interpol-give-ghana-phone-hacking-tools-raising-journalist-concerns-on-safety-and-confidentiality/
IBM’s head of communications for the Middle East and Africa, Mark Fox, told CPJ in an email that IBM had “no record of selling or providing” IBM i2 Analyze to the government of Ghana, but declined to comment on whether Ghana’s police used the technology. https://cpj.org/2020/07/us-uk-interpol-give-ghana-phone-hacking-tools-raising-journalist-concerns-on-safety-and-confidentiality/
CPJ reached Frank Adu-Poku, executive director of Ghana’s EOCO, by phone, but he declined to comment.
Ghana immigration spokesperson Michael Amoako-Atta told CPJ he would check about British support in 2019, but subsequent calls and text messages to Amoako-Atta went unanswered.
Ghana immigration spokesperson Michael Amoako-Atta told CPJ he would check about British support in 2019, but subsequent calls and text messages to Amoako-Atta went unanswered.
“Any data that is accessed by police would be done so in accordance with [the] law,” Sheila Kessie Abayie-Buckman, a spokesperson for Ghana’s police, told CPJ. https://cpj.org/2020/07/us-uk-interpol-give-ghana-phone-hacking-tools-raising-journalist-concerns-on-safety-and-confidentiality/
Abayie-Buckman said a new “framework for police-media relations and safety of journalists” would help curb instances where officers seized journalists’ devices or interrogated them about their sources.
Questions on specific technologies went unanswered. https://www.modernghana.com/news/1013480/gps-mfwa-launch-police-media-relations-framework.html
Questions on specific technologies went unanswered. https://www.modernghana.com/news/1013480/gps-mfwa-launch-police-media-relations-framework.html
“Sometimes I think it is good for governments to have that kind of [digital forensics] tools,” Abugri said. “But in a situation where people like us [journalists] are involved…those tools are not being used for their intended purpose…it becomes a worry.” https://cpj.org/2020/07/us-uk-interpol-give-ghana-phone-hacking-tools-raising-journalist-concerns-on-safety-and-confidentiality/
