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Google PlayMeta, the parent company of Facebook, revealed in a series of updates over the weekend that it had taken action over the targeting of Ukrainians in disinformation and hacking operations.
Per a report from Reuters, Meta said hacking attempts were made by the identified “threat actor” Ghostwriter, with those said to be targeted including “Ukrainian military and public figures.” Over the past 48 hours, Meta said its team had also removed a network made up of approximately 40 fake accounts and pages on both FB and Instagram. These efforts, company reps explained on Sunday, were being operated out of both Russia and Ukraine and had violated site rules regarding inauthentic behavior.
In a joint blog post, Meta’s Head of Security Policy, Nathaniel Gleicher, and Threat Disruption Director David Agranovich further detailed the latest updates surrounding security work in Ukraine, noting that an increase in the targeting of people in the country has been detected over the past few days.
“We took down a network run by people in Russia and Ukraine targeting Ukraine for violating our policy against coordinated inauthentic behavior,” the joint post stated. “They ran websites posing as independent news entities and created fake personas across social media platforms including Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, Telegram and also Russian Odnoklassniki and VK.”
According to Meta, links between the latest reported network and previously removed operation circa 2020 have already been determined amid the ongoing investigation. In an earlier statement, released Saturday, Meta said it would continue to take “extensive steps” on its lineup of apps (including FB and IG) to ensure the safety of users “in Ukraine and around the world.”
Also mentioned in Monday’s Reuters report, as well as in a separate NBC News piece, is word from a Twitter spokesperson that the site had permanently suspended “more than a dozen” accounts over the weekend due to violations of its user policy.
