The company disclosed several campaigns to test online spying features.
Meta warned that the spyware and surveillance-for-hire industry is targeting journalists, activists and the political opposition and is growing globally.
In its report, the company said it is "continuing to investigate and take action against spyware vendors around the world, including in China, Russia, Israel, the United States and India, that target people in about 200 countries." The report details the tactics used by the spy and hack campaigns.
Addressing spyware challenges requires a coordinated policy approach from democratic governments, Meta says. The company recommends that these governments tighten the rules they apply to spyware and surveillance-for-hire providers, including imposing export restrictions, KYC rules, and providing redress mechanisms for misuse of these tools.
In its report, Meta said it removed a network of about 130 Facebook and Instagram accounts that were used to test the malware capabilities of the Israeli spyware maker Candiru, co-founded by a former NSO Group employee.
In addition, 250 accounts on platforms associated with spyware provider Quadream were created to test "the ability to exfiltrate various types of data, including messages, images, video and audio files, and geolocation."
Meta said that in both cases, the company detected testing activity in time and did not observe targeted attacks on real users.
Comments 0