(San Francisco) The social network said on Wednesday that Chinese hacker groups are using Facebook and other mobile sites and apps to trap and spy on extremists in various countries, including China, without attributing these methods to the Chinese government.
“We have clear links with the organizations and geographical locations of these operations, but we cannot officially prove who is behind this operation,” Nathaniel Gleicher, Facebook’s head of security regulations, said in a statement. At the press conference.
Google software
The hackers targeted hundreds of Uyghur activists, journalists and dissidents living abroad. According to a California-based company, they trick people into clicking on fraudulent links and websites that infect their computers or smartphones with spyware.
“This activity has all the hallmarks of a long-term operation, in significant ways, it hides the responsibilities of the people,” Mr Gleicher said in a press release.
According to its cybersecurity team, the hackers’ maneuvers are mainly carried out outside of Facebook, on legitimate but compromised news sites, or through fake apps that are of interest to this Muslim minority who are being persecuted in China (dictionaries, applications, etc.). .
This is the so-called “watering hole” in which people infect suspiciously go to the place.
Trapped with confidence
On a social network, hackers appear to be journalists, human rights defenders, or members of society to create trusting relationships and trap them. These strategies allow goosebumps to access information, cameras and microphones on their victims’ phones.
The targeted Uyghurs come from Xinjiang, China and live in Australia, Canada, the United States, Kazakhstan, Syria, Turkey and other countries.
Although a small number of users are affected, in this case less than 500 worldwide, the impact will be severe – you can assume that surveillance will be kept.
Nathaniel Gleacher, Head of Facebook Security Policy
Facebook said it had blocked the sharing of trapped domain names on its platform, deleted group accounts and alerted relevant people. The company shared information with other social networks.
Pirate groups are known as “Earth Emposa”, “Poison Corp” or “Evil Eye”.
The United States and several European countries have recently tightened their voices against China, accusing it of keeping hundreds of thousands of Uyghur Muslims and inflicting “sterilization and coercion” on them. Beijing denies these facts.
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