Chasing Shadows: A CIC Toronto Book Talk with Dr. Ronald Deibert

The Canadian International Council’s Toronto Branch is delighted to invite you to join Ronald Deibert, Director and founder of Citizen Lab at the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy, for a timely and eye-opening conversation based on his latest book, Chasing Shadows: Cyber Espionage, Subversion, and the Global Fight for Democracy.

In this real-life spy thriller, Deibert exposes the shadowy global marketplace for high-tech surveillance, disinformation, and digital abuse. He chronicles how his team at Citizen Lab has uncovered dozens of covert operations targeting journalists, activists, political opponents, and ordinary citizens around the world.

This event will explore the real-world consequences of digital espionage and what they mean not only for those on the front lines, but for anyone who carries a smartphone.

The conversation will be moderated by Lotfullah Najafizada, award-winning journalist and Founder and CEO of Amu TV.

ABOUT THE SPEAKER

Ronald J. Deibert is the founder and director of the Citizen Lab, a world-renowned digital security research center at the University of Toronto. The bestselling author of Reset: Reclaiming the Internet for Civil Society and Black Code: Surveillance, Privacy, and the Dark Side of the Internet, he has also written many landmark articles and reports on espionage operations that infiltrated government and NGO computer networks. His team’s exposés of the spyware that attacks journalists and anti-corruption advocates around the world have been featured in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Financial Times, and other media. Deibert has received multiple honors for his cutting-edge work, and in 2022 he was appointed an Officer of the Order of Canada—the country’s second-highest honor of merit.

ABOUT THE MODERATOR

Lotfullah Najafizada is an Award-wining journalist and the Founder and CEO of Amu TV, a Washington, DC-based international news channel. Najafizada brings nearly 20 years of experience in journalism, including more than a decade as Director of TOLOnews TV (2009–2021), Afghanistan’s largest news network. In 2024, he received the joint UK-Canada Press Freedom Award at the UN General Assembly in New York. He was named Journalist of the Year by One Young World in 2022 and awarded the Press Freedom Hero Medal by Reporters Without Borders in 2016. He is a former fellow with leading institutions including the Institute of Politics, University of Chicago, the Asia Society, the Atlantic Council, and the World Press Institute. He holds a BSc in Economics.

There will be a book signing with Ronald Deibert and light refreshments at the conclusion of the event. Click here to purchase your copy online and bring it along for the author’s signature.