Facebook: Storing Instagram passwords in plain text & harvesting your emails

By Uzair Amir Facebook stored millions of Instagram passwords in a readable format and asked users for their email's passwords for "verification." On 21st March, 2018, the social media giant Facebook admitted that it stored passwords of 600 million users including "tens of thousands" of passwords...

Poll: Facebook Harvests Email Contacts for 1.5M Users – Is Enough, Enough?

Another day, another Facebook issue. Earlier on Thursday, news broke that Facebook confirmed that it has harvested the email contact lists for 1.5 million people, in an ongoing effort since May 2016. The social network said the situation was “unintentional” – and that somehow, it just happened. A...

Facebook Stored Millions of Instagram Users' Passwords in Plaintext

Facebook late last month revealed that the social media company mistakenly stored passwords for "hundreds of millions" of Facebook users in plaintext, including "tens of thousands" passwords of its Instagram users as well. Now it appears that the incident is far worse than first reported. Faceboo...

Facebook Stored Millions of Instagram Users' Passwords in Plaintext

Facebook late last month revealed that the social media company mistakenly stored passwords for "hundreds of millions" of Facebook users in plaintext, including "tens of thousands" passwords of its Instagram users as well. Now it appears that the incident is far worse than first reported. Faceboo...

Facebook Collected Contacts from 1.5 Million Email Accounts Without Users' Permission

Not a week goes without a new Facebook blunder. Remember the most recent revelation of Facebook being caught asking users new to the social network platform for their email account passwords to verify their identity? At the time, it was suspected that Facebook might be using access to users' emai...

Never Forget That You Are Being Watched

By David Balaban What data do Facebook, Google, and mobile apps collect, do mobile carriers listen to your calls? Read this post and find answers to these and other privacy questions as well as get tips on how to protect your personal data. It has become known that information about 257,000...

Threat Source (April 4)

Welcome to this week’s Threat Source newsletter — the perfect place to get caught up on all things Talos from the past week. If you haven’t yet, there’s still time to register for this year’s Talos Threat Research Summit — our second annual conference by defenders, for defenders. This year’s Summ...

Researchers: Facebook's Data-Leveraging Scandal Puts Users on Notice

On the heels of reports that Facebook leveraged its users’ data in its relationships with other companies, researchers say that the tech space needs to re-assess the value of data as it relates to user privacy measures. However, they also said that users need to take steps themselves to safeguard...

Scranos: New Rapidly Evolving Rootkit-Enabled Spyware Discovered

A new powerful rootkit-enabled spyware operation has been discovered wherein hackers are distributing multifunctional malware disguised as cracked software or trojanized app posing as legitimate software like video players, drivers and even anti-virus products. While the rootkit malware—dubbed...

A week in security (April 8 – 14)

Last week on Labs, we said hello to Baldr, a new stealer on the market, we wondered who is managing the security of medical management apps, discussed the different perceptions of personal information, and we looked at fake Instagram assistance apps found on Google Play that are stealing password...

Russia Fines Facebook $47 Over Citizens' Data Privacy Dispute

Yes, you read that right! Russia has fined Facebook with 3,000 rubles, roughly $47, for not complying with the country's controversial Data Localization law. It's bizarre and unbelievable, but true. In December last year, Russian Internet watchdog Roskomnadzor sent notifications to Twitter and...

Russia Fines Facebook $47 Over Citizens' Data Privacy Dispute

Yes, you read that right! Russia has fined Facebook with 3,000 rubles, roughly $47, for not complying with the country's controversial Data Localization law. It's bizarre and unbelievable, but true. In December last year, Russian Internet watchdog Roskomnadzor sent notifications to Twitter and...

Threat Source (April 11)

Newsletter compiled by Jonathan Munshaw. Welcome to this week’s Threat Source newsletter — the perfect place to get caught up on all things Talos from the past week. If you haven’t yet, there’s still time to register for this year’s Talos Threat Research Summit — our second annual conference by...

A Year Later, Cybercrime Groups Still Rampant on Facebook

Almost exactly one year ago, KrebsOnSecurity reported that a mere two hours of searching revealed more than 100 Facebook groups with some 300,000 members openly advertising services to support all types of cybercrime, including spam, credit card fraud and identity theft. Facebook responded by...

A week in security (April 1 – 7)

Last week, Malwarebytes Labs took readers on a brief tour of some of the world's most notable data privacy laws, explored how gamers can protect themselves against cyberthreats, and offered thoughts about the reports that a 23-year-old Chinese woman gained access to President Donald Trump’s...

Facebook Won't Stop Being Sketchy, and More Security News This Week

Plus: Mar-a-Lago mishaps, Airbnb's creepy camera problem, tax-season phishing scams, and more...

Podcast: Chris Vickery on UpGuard's Discovery of Millions of Facebook Records

Data collection and security was thrust to the forefront this week after researchers with UpGuard disclosed that hundreds of millions of Facebook records were found in two separate publicly-exposed app datasets. The two publicly-exposed datasets included one controlled by Mexican media company...

Facebook Boots 74 Cybercrime Groups From Platform

Facebook has booted more than 70 cybercrime groups off its platform that were peddling illicit services – from email spamming tools to stolen credentials and payment information sales – in plain sight. Researchers said a simple search on Facebook for keywords like “spam,” “CVV” or more returned...

Facebook Let Dozens of Cybercrime Groups Operate in Plain Sight

Who needs the dark web? Researchers found 74 groups offering stolen credit cards and hacking tools with simple Facebook searches...

Hiding in Plain Sight

This blog was written by Jon Munshaw and Jaeson Schultz. Cisco Talos is continually working to ensure that our threat intelligence not only accounts for the latest threats but also new versions of old threats, such as spam. This often means pursuing cybercriminals wherever they congregate. Howeve...