Meta Warns of 8 Spyware Firms Targeting iOS, Android, and Windows Devices

Meta Platforms said it took a series of steps to curtail malicious activity from eight different firms based in Italy, Spain, and the United Arab Emirates U.A.E. operating in the surveillance-for-hire industry. The findings are part of its Adversarial Threat Report for the fourth quarter of 2023...

Meta Uncovers Massive Social Media Cyber Espionage Operations Across South Asia

Three different threat actors leveraged hundreds of elaborate fictitious personas on Facebook and Instagram to target individuals located in South Asia as part of disparate attacks. "Each of these APTs relied heavily on social engineering to trick people into clicking on malicious links,...

Google Takes Down 50,000 Instances of Pro-Chinese DRAGONBRIDGE Influence Operation

Google on Thursday disclosed it took steps to dismantle over 50,000 instances of activity orchestrated by a pro-Chinese influence operation known as DRAGONBRIDGE in 2022. "Most DRAGONBRIDGE activity is low quality content without a political message, populated across many channels and blogs," the...

Facebook Cracks Down on Spyware Vendors from U.S., China, Russia, Israel, and India

Meta Platforms disclosed that it took down no less than 200 covert influence operations since 2017 spanning roughly 70 countries across 42 languages. The social media conglomerate also took steps to disable accounts and block infrastructure operated by spyware vendors, including in China, Russia,...

Meta Takes Down Fake Facebook and Instagram Accounts Linked to Pro-U.S. Influence Operation

Meta Platforms on Tuesday said it took down a network of accounts and pages across Facebook and Instagram that were operated by people associated with the U.S. military to spread narratives that depicted the country in a favorable light in the Middle East and Central Asia. The network, which...

Facebook Shuts Down Covert Political 'Influence Operations' from Russia and China

Meta Platforms on Tuesday disclosed it took steps to dismantle two covert influence operations originating from China and Russia for engaging in coordinated inauthentic behavior CIB so as to manipulate public debate. While the Chinese operation sets its sights on the U.S. and the Czech Republic,...

"Distinguished Impersonator" Information Operation That Previously Impersonated U.S. Politicians and Journalists on Social Media Leverages Fabricated U.S. Liberal Personas to Promote Iranian Interests

In May 2019, FireEye Threat Intelligence published a blog post exposing a network of English-language social media accounts that engaged in inauthentic behavior and misrepresentation that we assessed with low confidence was organized in support of Iranian political interests. Personas in that...

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...

U.S. Elections True Test for Facebook’s Disinformation Crackdown

As the U.S. midterm elections commence on Tuesday, all eyes are on Facebook and other social-media companies to see how they continue to crack down on misinformation and other political meddling efforts on their platforms. Facebook for its part on Monday evening said it has barred an additional 1...

Facebook Bans More Than 800 Accounts in Disinformation Purge

Facebook on Thursday announced it has removed hundreds of pages and accounts as the company cracks down on spam. The move comes at a time when Facebook is under intense scrutiny about how it handles misinformation, particularly as the U.S. midterm elections draw near. The company said it has...

A week in security (August 20 – August 26)

Last week on Labs, we took a look at insider threats, doubled back on the privacy of search browser extensions, profiled green card scams, revisited Defcon badgelife, and talked about what happens to a user's accounts when they die. Other cybersecurity news There was an archiving error in Twitch...

Facebook Removes 17 Profiles Involved in Political Meddling

Facebook Tuesday said that it has removed 32 pages from its platform involved in “coordinated inauthentic behavior.” The action comes months before the November midterm elections – and at a time when all eyes are on Facebook to see how it protects against potential campaigns attempting to sway...