Facebook warns of suspected state-funded attacks

Facebook has started alerting users it suspects have been targeted or compromised by a suspected state-sponsored attacker.

The social networking giant announced it will display warnings on the site informing users of the suspected attack and providing advice on how to better secure their individual accounts.

Facebook CSO Alex Stamos said the company already takes steps to secure accounts believed to have been compromised but felt the need for an additional warning specifically related to government-sponsored attacks.

“We do this because these types of attacks tend to be more advanced and dangerous than others, and we strongly encourage affected people to take the actions necessary to secure all of their online accounts,” he said.

“To protect the integrity of our methods and processes, we often won’t be able to explain how we attribute certain attacks to suspected attackers. That said, we plan to use this warning only in situations where the evidence strongly supports our conclusion.”

Apple is meanwhile removing hundreds of apps found to be using forbidden private APIs to extract personally available information.

In a statement, Apple said it will remove apps using the third-party Youmi advertising SDK because the mobile advertising platform uses private APIs to gather private information, in violation of the company’s security and privacy guidelines.

The discovery was first revealed by SourceDNA, an analytics service focused on the iOS and Android app ecosystems.

The company found 256 apps that were using the forbidden calls and tracked the code back to the common codebase of the China-based Youmi SDK.