Security News > 2021 > December > Facebook Bans Spy-for-Hire Firms for Targeting 50K People
The spyware industry spreads far beyond the infamous Israeli spyware company NSO Group, Meta said, it being "Only one piece of a much broader global cyber-mercenary ecosystem." Facebook sued NSO Group, maker of the notorious, industrial-grade spyware Pegasus, in 2019 over an alleged attack that exploited a zero-day vulnerability in WhatsApp's messaging platform to inject spyware onto victims' phones in targeted campaigns.
The Israeli firm markets spyware that Meta's report said has been used in "Frequent targeting of activists, opposition politicians and government officials in Hong Kong and Mexico." Its clients reportedly include the Department of Homeland Security, the Internal Revenue Service, and Saudi Arabia.
Meta removed about 100 fake accounts on Facebook and Instagram that were linked to the firm, another Israeli spyware maker.
The two fake accounts were reportedly used to dig up dirt on people feuding with the emirate of Ras Al Khaimah in the UAE. Meta said it removed about 100 Facebook accounts linked to Bluehawk.
Meta hasn't been able to identify exactly who's behind 100 fake Facebook and Instagram accounts, but said that the Chinese entity has developed surveillanceware for Android, iOS, Windows, Linux, Mac OS X and Solaris operating systems.
'Everyday' People Hacked, Spied On. The surveillance victims include people whom Meta described as indiscriminately targeted journalists, dissidents, critics of authoritarian regimes, families of opposition members and human rights activists.