Security News > 2022 > April > Russia (still) trying to weaponize Facebook for spying, Ukraine-war disinfo

This includes Kremlin-backed operations looking to spy on and influence specific Ukrainian industries, including defense, energy, and telecoms, as well as journalists and activists in Ukraine, Russia and abroad. In one example, Meta says it removed fake-news posts linked to the Belarusian KGB. This account began posting misinformation in Polish and English about Ukrainian troops surrendering without a fight and the nation's leaders fleeing the country on February 24 when Russia began its "Special military operation" against the neighboring state.

Ghostwriter has tried to hack into "Dozens" of Ukrainian military personnel's Facebook accounts, according to Meta's new threat report.

Meta shut down further attempts by the Russian Internet Research Agency, posing as a civil rights NGO, to create Facebook accounts.

In addition to the state-sponsored attempts at espionage and spreading misinformation about the war in Ukraine, Meta also noted an uptick in cybercriminals using the crisis to scam Facebook users for their own monetary gain.

Since the war began, Meta claims it removed "Tens of thousands" of accounts, pages and groups that used both automated and manual systems.

Meta shut down "Multiple clusters of long-abandoned compromised accounts" that are now operating out of Russia.

News URL

https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2022/04/07/russia_weaponize_facebook/