ISLAMABAD: Two cyber espionage groups, with likely links to Indian and Pakistani governments, have been spying on people after convincing them to download bogus apps that masquerade as popular messaging services like WhatsApp, Signal and Telegram, said an American business magazine while quoting a Facebook report.
Cybersecurity has become a major concern for governments, corporate entities and individuals across the world amid their growing reliance on information and communication technologies.
Earlier this year, media reports mentioned Pegasus malware designed by an Israeli surveillance firm which was used to target global leaders, including senior European Union officials.
“Facebook says the malware can siphon off all kinds of information from an Android device, including call logs, contacts, files, text messages and geolocation data,” Forbes said in a news report. “It can also access a device’s camera and microphone.”
The publication noted that cyber espionage groups, Bitter APT and APT36, had been targeting people in the United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia, China and New Zealand, among other countries.
“Previously, Forbes reporting found links between Bitter APT and the Indian government, after the group had acquired an American company’s Microsoft Windows hacking tools,” it continued.
The magazine added: “Facebook also announced action on a Pakistan-based government hacking unit known as APT36. It, too, was creating Android spy tools masquerading as apps including WhatsApp, Chinese social network WeChat and YouTube.”
Forbes said Facebook had “identified 10,000 users across at least nine countries that may have been targeted by APT36 and Bitter APT.”
The report added the social media giant was also in the process of warning users directly on Facebook and Instagram against the threat.
“If we think that you might have come into any contact with any of these groups, we want to alert you and we want to tell you the tools that you can use to secure your online presence,” Mike Dvilyanski, Facebook’s head of cyber espionage investigations, told Forbes.
The magazine also maintained it was likely that Android was not the only target of the cyber espionage groups.
“Facebook also saw ... fake personas distributing links to downloads of an iPhone chat application,” it said, adding: “The company reported its findings to Apple.”
Forbes said it tried to contact Indian and Pakistani officials who did not respond to requests for comment.
Facebook says cyber espionage groups from India, Pakistan snooping on thousands
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Facebook says cyber espionage groups from India, Pakistan snooping on thousands
- Two groups, with likely links to Indian and Pakistani governments, use bogus messaging apps to steal data
- Android users are said to be particularly vulnerable, though Apple enthusiasts are not entirely immune to the risk
Bangladesh approves new rice imports from Pakistan amid price pressures
- The deal follows Bangladesh’s resumption of direct rice trade with Pakistan earlier this year for the first time since independence in 1971
- Diplomatic ties between the two nations have improved since the ouster of prime minister Sheikh Hasina after mass protests last year
DHAKA: Bangladesh has approved the import of 50,000 metric tons of white rice from Pakistan under a government-to-government deal as part of efforts to stabilize domestic prices, officials said on Tuesday.
The Cabinet Committee on Government Purchase cleared the deal at $395 per ton, reinforcing Dhaka’s renewed trade engagement with Islamabad.
Rice prices in Bangladesh have jumped by between 15 percent and 20 percent over the past year, with medium-quality rice selling at about 80 taka ($0.66) per kilogram. Despite increased imports and the removal of duties to ease supply constraints, prices for the staple grain remain stubbornly high.
The deal follows Bangladesh’s resumption of direct rice trade with Pakistan earlier this year for the first time since independence in 1971. In February, it imported 50,000 tons of rice from Pakistan at $499 per ton under a similar agreement.
Diplomatic ties between the two South Asian nations have improved since an interim government led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus took office after mass protests forced then prime minister Sheikh Hasina to flee to neighboring India last year.
Formerly East Pakistan, Bangladesh gained independence after a nine-month war in 1971, and relations with Pakistan have remained fraught in the decades since the conflict.
Separately, the government approved another 50,000 tons of parboiled rice through an international tender, part of a series of recent purchases aimed at cooling local prices. India’s Pattabhi Agro Foods secured the contract with the lowest bid of $355.77 per ton.
