tl; Dr
- Major tech companies were tricked into turning over their users’ personal data.
- Companies involved include Google, Apple, Twitter, Discord and others.
- The data was handed over to cybercriminals in response to bogus legal requests.
Major tech companies including Google, Apple, Snap, Twitter, Meta Platforms and Discord have been tricked into giving out personal information about their users.
Citing federal law enforcement officials and industry investigators, bloomberg Reportedly, the tech giant provided sensitive user information in response to fake emergency legal requests.
These types of requests do not require a court order, and companies often hand over data in good faith to law enforcement agencies when imminent threats are involved. Criminals usually compromise the email system of a foreign law enforcement agency to fabricate such requests.
In this case, fraudulently obtained data was used to target minors and women. In some cases, bad actors pressured them into sharing sexually explicit material and threatened retaliation against them if they failed to comply.
This tactic is considered to be the newest tool that cybercriminals use to steal personal information of people for financial gain. What’s scary is that the attackers successfully impersonated law enforcement officers to such an extent that even the biggest tech companies have been fooled.
Anonymous sources disclosing this information say it is impossible for victims to defend against such schemes, and the best way to avoid them is not to have accounts on targeted services.
“Tech companies should implement a confirmation callback policy as well as push law enforcement to use their dedicated portals where they can better trace account acquisitions,” said Alex Stamos, former chief security officer at Facebook.
Meanwhile, Google reported bloomberg That it uncovered a fraudulent data request coming in 2021 from malicious actors posing as legitimate government officials. The person was identified, and the company notified the authorities. “We are actively working with law enforcement and others in the industry to detect and prevent illegal data requests,” a Google spokesperson told the publication.
A Facebook representative said the platform “reviews all data requests for legal adequacy and uses advanced systems and processes to validate law enforcement requests and detect abuse.”
Discord said it validates all law enforcement requests, while Apple and Twitter declined to comment.
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