Security News

German watchdog bans Facebook from using WhatsApp users' data
2021-05-11 20:41

The order issued today by the HmbBfDI, one of Germany's data protection commissioners, comes after WhatsApp said that it will slowly restrict account features for users who refuse to give up control of their data and have it shared with Facebook companies starting May 15th, 2021. The announcement comes after the data watchdog started urgent proceedings last month with the goal of issuing an order under GDPR guidance to stop Facebook from collecting and processing any data from WhatsApp users for their own purposes.

WhatsApp to restrict features if you refuse Facebook data sharing
2021-05-09 13:39

The company backtracks on a previous decision that gave its users a harsh ultimatum to accept sharing their data with Facebook if they want to continue using their account or, as an alternative, to delete their accounts. Facebook companies that can access WhatsApp users' data after this year's privacy changes include Facebook, Facebook Payments, Onavo, Facebook Technologies, and CrowdTangle.

Facebook: Don't expect full end-to-end encryption on Messenger until 2022 'at the earliest'
2021-05-04 15:35

Facebook has pledged to make end-to-end encryption the default across all of its messaging services - though has told users not to expect it on Facebook Messenger or Instagram Direct until 2022 "At the earliest". Gail Kent, Facebook's policy director for Messenger, shared a blog post on 30 April outlining the social media company's plans to improve the security of its messaging apps following the surge in private messaging during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Scam victims find same fraudulent ads lurking on Facebook and Google even after flagging them up
2021-04-26 13:45

UK consumer watchdog Which? has found that ad giants Google and Facebook are failing to remove online scam ads even after victims report them. A third of those reporting scam ads to Google found the same offending ads still present, while the figure was a quarter for antisocial media site Facebook.

Facebook Busts Palestinian Hackers' Operation Spreading Mobile Spyware
2021-04-22 00:08

Facebook on Wednesday said it took steps to dismantle malicious activities perpetrated by two state-sponsored hacking groups operating out of Palestine that abused its platform to distribute malware. To disrupt the adversary operations, Facebook said it took down their accounts, blocked domains associated with their activity, and alerted users it suspects were singled out by these groups to help them secure their accounts.

Facebook Shuts Down Two Hacking Groups in Palestine
2021-04-21 18:59

Social media giant Facebook today announced that it took action against two groups of hackers originating from Palestine that abused its infrastructure for malware distribution and account compromise across the Internet. As part of the shutdown operation, Facebook took down accounts, blocked domains, sent alerts to people who were targeted, and released malware hashes to the public.

Facebook Says Palestinian Intelligence Used Platform to Spy on Citizens
2021-04-21 18:57

Facebook said Wednesday it had disabled accounts used by the Palestinian Authority's internal intelligence organisation to spy on journalists, human rights activists and political opponents. In a report, the US social media giant also said it had identified and disabled "Politically motivated" espionage operations by a group believed to be based in Gaza and affiliated with Hamas, the Islamist rulers of the Palestinian enclave.

Facebook leaks strategy to numb reaction to data scraping incidents
2021-04-21 14:02

Facebook's long-term strategy is to desensitize users about leaked data dumps that were collected through scraping the public portion of the social network. The data also contained private phone numbers collected because of a vulnerability that Facebook fixed in August 2019, the company told BleepingComputer.

Would be so cool if everyone normalized these pesky data leaks, says data-leaking Facebook in leaked memo
2021-04-20 19:51

Facebook wants you to believe that the scraping of 533 million people's personal data from its platform, and the dumping of that data online by nefarious people, is something to be "Normalised." A blundering Facebook public relations operative managed to send a journalist a copy an internal document detailing the antisocial network's strategy for containing the leaking of 533 million accounts - and what the memo contained was infuriating though unsurprising.

Facebook Messenger users targeted by a large-scale scam
2021-04-20 10:30

A large-scale scam campaign targeting Facebook Messenger users all over the world has been detected by Group-IB. Digital Risk Protection analysts have found evidence proving that users in over 80 countries in Europe, Asia, the MEA region, North and South America might have been affected. In April, the number of Facebook posts inviting users to install "The latest Messenger update" reached 5,700.