Facebook recently reported that it took action against hackers who have been linked to the Chinese government and have been targeting people who sympathize with the oppressed Uyghur people in the Xinjiang region.

The hackers belong to a group that’s been dubbed Earth Empusa or Evil Eye, which is alleged to be working for the Chinese government in a cyber espionage campaign. Per security researchers, the group has managed to infect Android and iOS devices for years without detection.

Related articles

Their ability to infect devices surreptitiously has allowed Empusa to install Insomnia, a dangerous malware that can steal user data such as contacts, text messages, and GPS locations. But instead of directly sharing the malware via the social platform, the operation involved sending links to malicious websites.

Affected Facebook users have been notified by the social network to perform certain measures to protect their accounts.

Chinese government officials deny involvement with the hackers.

Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *