A striking new report has alleged how tech giants Meta and Apple may have mistakenly handed over thousands of data belonging to users to hackers.
It has been stated by local media outlets how both organizations received fake emergency data requests via orders that they believed had been sent by officers belonging to law enforcement agencies. But that was far from the truth.
Now, reports reveal how it was actually hackers behind those emergency requests who tried to fake the situation in a manner that made it appear like it was a real panic situation where data was needed on an ASAP basis, as revealed by Bloomberg recently.
It is believed that that major slip-up took place in the middle of 2021 as both companies fell for their phony requests while providing information pertaining to IP addresses that belonged to so many users. Other common data that was reportedly shared included home addresses and user phone numbers too.
On a routine basis, it’s not uncommon for law enforcement agencies to request data from a number of leading social media platforms as they need to facilitate their investigations with all the details available. In particular, when a certain criminal has been accused of a particular crime, officers are on the search for particular online accounts and details relating to it.
Some experts argue that some of these requests usually require special permission or authorization from judges to be carried out but new reports claim that isn’t the case when it comes down to emergency requests for user data.
In case you’re wondering why, well, it has to do with the simple fact that these types of cases usually entail life-threatening matters and there’s simply no time to waste.
Another recent report from Krebs on Security spoke about how common these fake data requests are turning out to be and there needs to be greater action and vigilance involved to help put an end before it’s too late.
Read next: Meta Hires Political Campaigners To Sway Public Away From TikTok’s Increasing Popularity
It has been stated by local media outlets how both organizations received fake emergency data requests via orders that they believed had been sent by officers belonging to law enforcement agencies. But that was far from the truth.
Now, reports reveal how it was actually hackers behind those emergency requests who tried to fake the situation in a manner that made it appear like it was a real panic situation where data was needed on an ASAP basis, as revealed by Bloomberg recently.
It is believed that that major slip-up took place in the middle of 2021 as both companies fell for their phony requests while providing information pertaining to IP addresses that belonged to so many users. Other common data that was reportedly shared included home addresses and user phone numbers too.
On a routine basis, it’s not uncommon for law enforcement agencies to request data from a number of leading social media platforms as they need to facilitate their investigations with all the details available. In particular, when a certain criminal has been accused of a particular crime, officers are on the search for particular online accounts and details relating to it.
Some experts argue that some of these requests usually require special permission or authorization from judges to be carried out but new reports claim that isn’t the case when it comes down to emergency requests for user data.
In case you’re wondering why, well, it has to do with the simple fact that these types of cases usually entail life-threatening matters and there’s simply no time to waste.
Another recent report from Krebs on Security spoke about how common these fake data requests are turning out to be and there needs to be greater action and vigilance involved to help put an end before it’s too late.
Read next: Meta Hires Political Campaigners To Sway Public Away From TikTok’s Increasing Popularity
