On Thursday, Meta, the parent company of Facebook, blacklisted a number of “cyber mercenary” organizations and began notifying 50,000 people who were presumably targeted by the companies suspected of spying on activists, dissidents, and journalists throughout the world.
Meta took down 1,500 Facebook and Instagram accounts tied to groups that allegedly offered services ranging from gathering public information online to building trust with targets via phony identities or digital eavesdropping via cyber attempts.
In addition, the social media giant has begun informing approximately 50,000 people it believes may have been targeted in more than 100 countries by companies including several from Israel, which is a major participant in the cyber surveillance industry.
“The surveillance-for-hire market… appears to be indiscriminate targeting on behalf of the highest bidder,” said Nathaniel Gleicher, Meta’s head of security policy.
Facebook’s parent company says it removed accounts linked to Israeli companies Cobwebs Technologies, Cognyte, Black Cube, and Bluehawk CI.
BellTroX, a company based in India, Cytrox, a company based in North Macedonia, and an undisclosed Chinese business all had accounts tied to them banned from Meta platforms.
Researchers from Citizen Lab, a Canadian cybersecurity company, accused Cytrox of producing and distributing malware that was used to hack Egyptian opposition activist Ayman Nour’s phone on Thursday.
