Meta issued an update on Thursday on its fight against Russia’s attempts to use its social networks Facebook and Instagram for espionage, hacking and disinformation, as digital platforms have become one of the fronts of the war. . in Ukraine.
These Dangerous Hackers Will Not Give Upsaid Nathaniel Gleicher, head of security policy at Facebook, at a press conference. And they are increasingly likely to combine different techniques.
A group of hackers called Ghostwriter, which apparently operates from Russia, has intensified its activity, according to the Californian group’s security team.
Ghostwriter uses phishing in particular to encourage its victims to click on links that lead to malicious sites, in order to steal their passwords.
Since our last update, the group has tried to hack the Facebook accounts of dozens of members of the Ukrainian military.Meta said in his report. In a number of cases, he posted videos calling on the military to surrenderpretending to be the real owner of the hacked accounts.
Meta blocked these videos from sharing, Gleicher said.
Cooking recipes as cover
His team is faced with the classic disinformation that is now campaigned by networks of fake accounts but also other tactics, such as mobbingor persecution.
He thus disbanded a network of about 200 profiles in Russia that accused people of violating the platform’s rules to remove their content about Ukraine.
Those involved use fake and real accounts to submit hundreds and even thousands of complaints against their targets., report details. At so as not to be seen, they coordinate through a thematic group of cooking recipes.
The report also mentioned the activities of Ukrainian telecommunications spies, as well as journalists and activists.
Meta has already taken steps to reduce Russian disinformation: Russian state media is no longer allowed to run ads, and RT and Sputnik have even been banned in the European Union.
Moscow responded by blocking Facebook and Instagram in Russia.
Source: Radio-Canada