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In 2019, Check Point researchers described a campaign targeting Egyptian human rights activists and journalists that they traced back to 2016. Their report detailed phishing and malicious Android apps, and cited clues they considered suggestive of a government link—but they could not definitively identify the operator. The reporting does not establish whether the campaign is active today.
Who was targeted, and what did researchers find?
CyberScoop published its account on October 3, 2019, drawing on Check Point’s analysis of activity data released by Amnesty International in March of that year. Check Point reported at least 33 victims. The reported targets included human rights activists and journalists.
CyberScoop also said The New York Times had identified a political scientist, a former journalist, and a surgeon and opposition activist among those targeted, and reported that all had been arrested or detained. CyberScoop did not name them in its account.
How did the campaign work?
Phishing and third-party apps
Researchers found a database containing phishing links alongside targets’ email addresses. The report described phishing and third-party applications as ways to gain access to victims’ email.
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Android surveillance apps
Check Point also described stealthy Android apps that could log call dates and durations or the caller’s location. CyberScoop reported that one malicious Android app had more than 5,000 Google Play downloads. Downloads are not confirmed infections or victims, so this figure should not be compared directly with Check Point’s count of at least 33 victims.
What evidence suggested a possible government link?
Two clues stood out in the 2019 account: coordinates embedded in an HTML phishing page pointed to a government building in Cairo, and a domain registrant was listed as MCIT. Check Point threat intelligence group manager Lotem Finkelshtein told CyberScoop, “As far as we can tell, the fingerprints [on the activity] look like the Egyptian government.”
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That was a researcher assessment, not a definitive attribution. The report said researchers could not rule out someone posing as Egyptian authorities. The cited clues therefore do not establish that the Egyptian government operated the campaign.
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CyberScoop noted that Citizen Lab had reported a large-scale phishing campaign in Egypt in February 2017. Citizen Lab senior security researcher John Scott-Railton described the earlier campaign as appearing to be carried out by a group “very similar,” if not the same, as the one Check Point documented. This was a comparison by a researcher, not proof that both campaigns had the same operator.
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What happened to the campaign infrastructure?
CyberScoop reported that Check Point worked with Google and Microsoft to dismantle some infrastructure. The account did not establish the later status of that infrastructure or whether the campaign continued. Finkelshtein said, “We saw [the hackers] using all kinds of tools and improving them over time.” Any expectation at the time that attackers might develop new tools was a contemporaneous assessment, not evidence of subsequent activity.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What can be concluded today?
The evidence here describes what researchers reported in 2019: activity traced back to 2016, phishing and Android-app tactics, and at least 33 reported victims. It does not show whether the campaign is active in 2026. The historical findings also do not establish who operated it.
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