wordpress blog stats
Connect with us

Hi, what are you looking for?

, ,

Meta Reports How Spyware Firms Target Activists and Journalists on its Platforms

India-based CyberRoot Risk Advisory Private created fictitious accounts of journalists and media personalities, Meta reported

The global surveillance-for-hire industry continues to grow and indiscriminately target people – including journalists, activists, litigants and political opposition – to collect intelligence, and manipulate and compromise their devices and accounts across the internet, said Meta in its report titled "Threat Report on the Surveillance-for-Hire Industry", released on December 15, 2022. This is their second report; the first report was published a year ago. Meta said it has been taking action against commercial spyware vendors (the surveillance-for-hire industry) around the world by disabling their accounts, blocking their infrastructure, and alerting people who were affected by them. Meta caught an Indian firm which was scamming users Meta removed a network of 40 accounts belonging to India-based CyberRoot Risk Advisory Private, who, among other things, would create fictitious accounts of journalists, business executives, and media personalities. They would even create nearly identical accounts of their friends and family members to make the account seem more real. As a part of their phishing, they would also steal the login information of users by creating spoofed web domains of services like Gmail, Zoom, and Facebook. The following image illustrates a Dropbox spoof domain created by the spyware vendor. [caption id="attachment_174571" align="aligncenter" width="751"] Source: Meta's Threat Report on the Surveillance-for-Hire Industry[/caption] Why it matters: Surveillance today is no longer limited only to the State. Private entities and even individuals have access to various free and paid online tools to conduct surveillance. They can even hire a private agency for this purpose. For instance, Social Links, a…

Please subscribe/login to read the full story.
Written By

I cover privacy, surveillance and tech policy. In my reporting, I try my best to present the most relevant facts, and sometimes add in a pinch of my thoughts.

Free Reads

News

With GPS in every car, India's toll collection is going high-tech.

News

Google is currently undergoing the necessary procedures for the leasehold land, which is presently under the ownership of the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation.

News

The pilot project for which is being launched in 19 cities this year, with a plan to launch a full-fledged rollout next year.

MediaNama’s mission is to help build a digital ecosystem which is open, fair, global and competitive.

Views

News

NPCI CEO Dilip Asbe recently said that what is not written in regulations is a no-go for fintech entities. But following this advice could...

News

Notably, Indus Appstore will allow app developers to use third-party billing systems for in-app billing without having to pay any commission to Indus, a...

News

The existing commission-based model, which companies like Uber and Ola have used for a long time and still stick to, has received criticism from...

News

Factors like Indus not charging developers any commission for in-app payments and antitrust orders issued by India's competition regulator against Google could contribute to...

News

Is open-sourcing of AI, and the use cases that come with it, a good starting point to discuss the responsibility and liability of AI?...

You May Also Like

News

Google has released a Google Travel Trends Report which states that branded budget hotel search queries grew 179% year over year (YOY) in India, in...

Advert

135 job openings in over 60 companies are listed at our free Digital and Mobile Job Board: If you’re looking for a job, or...

News

By Aroon Deep and Aditya Chunduru You’re reading it here first: Twitter has complied with government requests to censor 52 tweets that mostly criticised...

News

Rajesh Kumar* doesn’t have many enemies in life. But, Uber, for which he drives a cab everyday, is starting to look like one, he...

MediaNama is the premier source of information and analysis on Technology Policy in India. More about MediaNama, and contact information, here.

© 2008-2021 Mixed Bag Media Pvt. Ltd. Developed By PixelVJ

Subscribe to our daily newsletter
Name:*
Your email address:*
*
Please enter all required fields Click to hide
Correct invalid entries Click to hide

© 2008-2021 Mixed Bag Media Pvt. Ltd. Developed By PixelVJ