Facebook: Pakistani hackers seek to hunt down Afghan officials

According to Fars News Agency, quoting EuronewsFacebook says it has blocked and thwarted the activities of a Pakistan-based hacker group that targeted the accounts of individuals linked to the then government and Afghan security forces as the Taliban advanced and gained power in Afghanistan.

The Pakistan-based group SideCopy used “romantic prey” for its activities on Tuesday (November 16th), Facebook revealed. The hackers tried to gain access to the pages of the people they were looking for by pretending that young women were on the platform.

Meta executives of Facebook, the parent company of Facebook, did not provide details of the group’s ultimate motive, but said the attacks targeted “those with links to the Afghan government, the army and law enforcement in Kabul.”

The main technique used by hackers, known as phishing, was to share links and direct their prey to sites that contained malware or to encourage them to download chat programs. According to Facebook, the peak of the hackers’ campaign was between April and August.

The capital, Kabul, fell to the Taliban on Sunday, August 15, 2021, following the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan, and the group regained control of the country after 20 years.

The hackers also threatened legal websites by setting up fake mobile app stores as part of attacks leaked by Facebook in order to trap their prey with Facebook credibility.

The “copy side” also sought to force its victims to download malware as part of an effort that “had the hallmarks of a well-resourced operation while hiding those behind it.” . »

Facebook did not provide figures on the number of possible accounts under attack or the nature of the hacked information.

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