Security News
Meta's Facebook subsidiary has been collecting hashed personal data from students seeking US government financial aid, even from those without a Facebook account and those not logged into the student aid website, according to a research study published this week. News non-profit The Markup, working with Mozilla via its Rally data monitoring extension, found that the Meta pixel code has been gathering digital fingerprints representing the first name, last name, phone number, zip code, and email address of students filling out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA, on the US Department of Education's StudentAid.
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.
A new information stealer named FFDroider has emerged, stealing credentials and cookies stored in browsers to hijack victims' social media accounts. Like many malware, FFDroider is spread through software cracks, free software, games, and other files downloaded from torrent sites.
The trojanized Craftsart Cartoon Photo Tools app is available in the official Android app store, but it's actually spyware capable of stealing any and all information from victims' social-media accounts. A popular mobile app in the official Google Play store called "Craftsart Cartoon Photo Tools" has racked up more than 100,000 installs - but unfortunately for the app's enthusiasts, it contains a version of the Facestealer Android malware.
Facebook has removed a deepfake video of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy spreading across the social network and the Internet, asking Ukrainian troops lay down their arms and surrender. "Earlier today, our teams identified and removed a deepfake video claiming to show President Zelensky issuing a statement he never did," said Nathaniel Gleicher, the head of security policy at Meta, Facebook's parent company.
The Irish Data Protection Commission on Tuesday slapped Facebook and WhatsApp owner Meta Platforms a fine of €17 million for a series of security lapses that occurred in violation of the European Union's GDPR laws in the region. "The DPC found that Meta Platforms failed to have in place appropriate technical and organizational measures which would enable it to readily demonstrate the security measures that it implemented in practice to protect EU users' data, in the context of the twelve personal data breaches," the watchdog said in a press release.
Russian Internet watchdog Roskomnadzor announced that Instagram will also be banned in Russia one week after blocking the Facebook and Twitter social networks. This time around, Instagram's ban comes after reports that Instagram's parent company, Meta, decided to allow calls for violence in some countries on Facebook and Instagram against Russian invaders and the Russian and Belarusian presidents.
Russia has blocked access to the Facebook social network after Meta, Facebook's parent company, deactivated or restricted access to accounts belonging pr-Kremlin media outlets and news agencies, including RIA Novosti, Sputnik, and Russia Today. "On March 4, 2022, a decision was made to block access to the Facebook network in the Russian Federation," Roskomnadzor stated.
Russia has blocked access to the Facebook social network after Meta, Facebook's parent company, deactivated or restricted access to accounts belonging pr-Kremlin media outlets and news agencies, including RIA Novosti, Sputnik, and Russia Today. "On March 4, 2022, a decision was made to block access to the Facebook network in the Russian Federation," Roskomnadzor stated.
Multiple Chrome browser extensions make use of a session token for Meta's Facebook that grants access to signed-in users' social network data in a way that violates the company's policies and leaves users open to potential privacy violations. Security researcher Zach Edwards last week noted that Brave had blocked a Chrome extension called L.O.C. out of concern it exposed the user's Facebook data to a third-party server without any notice or permission prompt.