Facebook Removes Thousands Of Fake Accounts For “Coordinated Inauthentic Behavior”
Facebook struck back against scammers on its platform this week, removing a total of 2,632 pages, groups and accounts for what it described as “coordinated inauthentic behavior.”
According to the company, the bad actors behind these pages were operating from Iran, Russia, Macedonia and Kosovo. The accounts connected to Iran were allegedly impersonating political groups and media organizations in an attempt to influence politics in countries around the world.
Facebook touted this round of successful take downs, but was also quick to caution that its fight against cyber criminals is a steep uphill battle.
“While we are making progress rooting out this abuse, as we’ve said before, it’s an ongoing challenge because the people responsible are determined and well-funded,”
Facebook’s Head of Cybersecurity Policy Nathaniel Gleicher wrote in a blog post announcing the takedowns. “We constantly have to improve to stay ahead. That means building better technology, hiring more people and working more closely with law enforcement, security experts and other companies.”
It was also revealed that the Iranian actors behind glut of fake accounts only spent about $15,000 to create and promote their fake ads.
It doesn’t take much to use Facebook as a tool for spreading phony content and malware. As users, all we can do is ignore it when we see it, and hope Facebook gets better at eliminating it.
Comments
