A former Twitter employee has been pronounced guilty for his role in digging up private information pertaining to certain Twitter users and turning over that data to Saudi Arabia. Ahmad Abouammo, 44, was convicted by a jury after a two-week trial in San Francisco federal court, Bloomberg reported Tuesday. He faces up to 20 years in prison when sentenced. The verdict comes … [Read more...] about Former Twitter Employee Found Guilty of Spying for Saudi Arabia
Spying
Facebook Bans 7 ‘Cyber Mercenary’ Companies for Spying on 50,000 Users
Meta Platforms on Thursday revealed it took steps to deplatform seven cyber mercenaries that it said carried out "indiscriminate" targeting of journalists, dissidents, critics of authoritarian regimes, families of opposition, and human rights activists located in over 100 countries, amid mounting scrutiny of surveillance technologies. To that end, the company said it alerted … [Read more...] about Facebook Bans 7 ‘Cyber Mercenary’ Companies for Spying on 50,000 Users
Researchers Discover PhoneSpy Malware Spying on South Korean Citizens
An ongoing mobile spyware campaign has been uncovered snooping on South Korean residents using a family of 23 malicious Android apps to siphon sensitive information and gain remote control of the devices. "With more than a thousand South Korean victims, the malicious group behind this invasive campaign has had access to all the data, communications, and services on their … [Read more...] about Researchers Discover PhoneSpy Malware Spying on South Korean Citizens
Popular iOS SDK Accused of Spying on Billions of Users and Committing Ad Fraud
A popular iOS software development kit (SDK) used by over 1,200 apps—with a total of more than a billion mobile users—is said to contain malicious code with the goal of perpetrating mobile ad-click fraud and capturing sensitive information.According to a report published by cybersecurity firm Snyk, Mintegral — a mobile programmatic advertising platform owned by Chinese mobile … [Read more...] about Popular iOS SDK Accused of Spying on Billions of Users and Committing Ad Fraud
MonitorMinor: Spying on Android | Kaspersky official blog
Using stalkerware isn’t just unethical, it’s inherently unsafe. The first point hardly requires further explanation. As for the second, the problem is this: Spying apps steal vast amounts of confidential data from devices and send it over the Internet, and their creators care not a jot about protecting it. How the data is stored or transmitted to the command-and-control … [Read more...] about MonitorMinor: Spying on Android | Kaspersky official blog
Two Former Twitter Employees Caught Spying On Users For Saudi Arabia
Two former employees of Twitter have been charged with spying on thousands of Twitter user accounts on behalf of the Saudi Arabian government, likely with the purpose of unmasking the identity of dissidents.According to an indictment filed on November 5 and unsealed just yesterday, one of the charged Twitter employees, American citizen Ahmad Abouammo, left the company in May … [Read more...] about Two Former Twitter Employees Caught Spying On Users For Saudi Arabia
Simjacker opens SIM cards to spying
Recently, experts at AdaptiveMobile Security discovered a method of attack on mobile phones that can be carried out using a normal computer and a dirt-cheap USB modem. Whereas some older methods of cellular surveillance required special equipment and a telecom operating license, this attack, called Simjacker, takes advantage of a vulnerability found in SIM cards. It’s all … [Read more...] about Simjacker opens SIM cards to spying
Google, Mozilla, Apple Block Kazakhstan’s Root CA Certificate to Prevent Spying
In a move to protect its users based in Kazakhstan from government surveillance, Google, Apple and Mozilla finally today came forward and blocked Kazakhstan's government-issued root CA certificate within their respective web browsing software.Starting today, Chrome, Safari and Firefox users in Kazakhstan will see an error message stating that the "Qaznet Trust Network" … [Read more...] about Google, Mozilla, Apple Block Kazakhstan’s Root CA Certificate to Prevent Spying