Facebook's parent company, Meta, has discovered over 400 malicious apps that steal social network account information, and these are available to download on Apple and Android devices through their app stores.
Meta announced the ban of these apps after notifying Apple and Google about the apps and requesting that they prevent their respective users from downloading them.
The announcement arrived amid a heated debate over the vulnerability of personal data in Australia in the aftermath of the large data breach that occurred with Optus the previous month.
Meta contends that while the attack of the telco company is distinct from the usage of applications to trick people into handing over information, it shall serve as an important reminder of the dangers that exist online.
Details on These Online Scams
"The applications would disguise themselves on app stores as things like photo editors, mobile games, health and lifestyle trackers," David Agranovich, Meta's director of threat disruption, said via ABC News.
These harmful programs are masked as "fun or useful" services, such as photo editors, camera apps, virtual private network (VPN) services, horoscope apps, and fitness tracking tools.
They would lure users in by promising capabilities, one of which is the capacity to turn a snapshot of themselves into a cartoon. After downloading, users of the apps would be required to log in using their Facebook accounts before they are granted access to the advertised features.
The login part is only one step to stealing the account information of Facebook users, and to make things worse, many of the applications that Meta found were barely functional.
Meta was not aware of the total number of people who had downloaded these malicious apps, stating that such information is only accessible by Google and Apple as the owners of the app stores where these programs came from.
Yet, the company said it would warn any individuals who may have been at risk.
Agranovich confirmed that the company is contacting approximately one million people across the entire platform that may have been exposed to these dangerous applications. He pointed out that this discovery does not indicate their platform's security was breached. "Just that we think that they may have been exposed to one of these applications," he added.
Regardless of these data-compromising apps, Meta reassured that Google and Apple stores still offer legitimate apps with a safe and secure Facebook login feature.
What Users Must do, According to Meta
At times, it can be difficult for internet users to distinguish what is safe and what is fraudulent. Therefore, the tech company is recommending its users do these steps to avoid being victimized by data-stealing apps.
- Regularly change passwords
- Enable two-factor authentication
- Switch on login notifications
The company is confident that these will notify users as soon as someone attempts to access their account, preventing any possibility of a data breach.
In addition, Meta is encouraging users to report harmful apps to its Data Abuse Bounty program.
This article is owned by Tech Times
Written by Trisha Kae Andrada
