Photo: Dan Kitwood / Getty Images
For: EFE
Monday, September 30
Facebook warns that 50,000 users were targeted by “cybermercenaries”
The social network Facebook warned that close to 18, 000 users in more than 100 countries could be targeted surveillance by “cybermercenaries” who work for both government agencies and companies.
Meta, Facebook’s parent company, said in a statement made public today that it alerted all those people that it suspected they were being subjected to these actions through a system that the company launched in 2015.
According to Meta, these companies or individuals that he describes as “cybermercenaries” officially offer their services against “Criminals and terrorists”; however, Meta asserts, “our months-long investigation concluded that the attacks are in fact indiscriminate and include journalists, dissidents, critics of authoritarian regimes, relatives of opponents and human rights activists,” he stresses.
Meta points out that it deactivated seven surveillance companies that monitored people in more out of a hundred countries, has deleted 1, 500 accounts and has shared its findings with security researchers, other platforms and policy makers.
The providers of these services are found in China, Israel, Indicia and North Macedonia, according to Meta which explains that the follow-up process is divided into three phases, one for recognition, another for contact and a third for exploitation.
However , Meta warns that “the in entities behind these surveillance operations are persistent ”and he hopes they will continue to improve their tactics.
“ We will continue to share our findings when possible so that people are aware of the threats we are seeing and can take measures to strengthen the security of their accounts ”, concludes Facebook, which has been repeatedly criticized for its security flaws.
Read more:
Facebook users warn of fake gift card scam, after a woman lost $ 5, 000 dollars
Amazon and Facebook could pay up to 15% more tax if new Democrats tax burden passes
Which states of the country were most vulnerable to fraud and identity theft this 2021