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An international media watchdog has uncovered previously unknown surveillance software that Belarusian security forces are using to monitor journalists, marking the latest tool in the government's escalating crackdown on independent media.
Reporters Without Borders announced Wednesday that it had identified the spy software, which it calls "ResidentBat," after forensic experts analyzed a journalist's mobile phone following a state security interrogation. The discovery reveals how authoritarian governments continue developing new digital weapons to suppress press freedom even as global attention focuses on better-known surveillance technologies.
Unlike remotely deployed spyware such as Israel's Pegasus system, ResidentBat requires physical access to install. Security agents manually loaded the software onto the journalist's device after forcing them to unlock it during questioning by Belarus's KGB, the country's feared intelligence service.
Once embedded in a device, ResidentBat provides comprehensive surveillance capabilities. The software captures phone calls, audio recordings, screenshots, text messages and communications from encrypted messaging applications. It also accesses files stored locally on the phone, giving authorities a complete window into a journalist's sources, reporting and personal life.
The journalist, whose identity Reporters Without Borders withheld for safety reasons, only learned of the intrusion days after the interrogation when antivirus software detected suspicious components. They then contacted IT specialists at a digital security organization, which conducted a detailed forensic examination of the device.
That analysis determined the surveillance program activated during the KGB questioning session. Investigators concluded that Belarusian intelligence has likely deployed ResidentBat since at least March 2021, though the software's developer remains unknown.
The surveillance revelation comes as President Alexander Lukashenko, who has controlled Belarus for more than three decades, continues eliminating all political opposition and independent voices. Reporters Without Borders characterizes the media environment in Belarus as heavily repressive, with journalists routinely facing censorship, intimidation, violence and detention without due process.
Approximately 30 journalists currently sit in Belarusian prisons, placing the country among those with the highest number of incarcerated media workers worldwide. "By deploying surveillance technologies such as ResidentBat, the Belarusian state is pursuing a deliberate strategy of repression against independent journalism," said Antoine Bernard, the organization's head of advocacy and assistance.
The Belarus case fits within an expanding pattern of governments using sophisticated spyware against journalists and activists. In September, researchers at the University of Toronto's Citizen Lab discovered FlexiSPY surveillance software on phones belonging to two Kenyan filmmakers following their arrest in May. Last December, Amnesty International accused Serbian authorities of installing NoviSpy spyware on devices used by journalists and activists.
Reporters Without Borders called for an international prohibition on such surveillance technology. "There seems to be a growing trend in surveillance of civil society," the organization's report stated.
The proliferation of both remotely deployed and manually installed spyware demonstrates how press freedom faces mounting technological threats beyond traditional forms of censorship and physical intimidation.
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