A report released by The Citizen Lab at the University of Toronto this month found that multiple Ethiopian government agencies used spyware to monitor journalists, activists, and lawyers. Among those targeted were dissidents from Ethiopia’s Oromia region—one of Ethiopia’s nine ethnically based regional states. Three days later on Decembeer 18, Reuters reported that ethnic Somalis in the Daro Lebu and Hawi Gudina districts attacked and killed 29 ethnic Oromos. To conduct its international spying campaign, the Ethiopian government reportedly used a product called PC surveillance System (PSS), a spyware software developed by Israel-based cybersecurity firm Cyberbit. Human Rights Watch senior internet researcher Cynthia Wong said that this latest series of attacks highlights Ethiopia’s commitment on silencing dissent.

Source: Ethiopian News December 21, 2017 23:15 UTC