Technologies

Meta, formerly Facebook, bans seven ‘surveillance for hire’ firms

The firms’ software and services enabled surveillance of journalists, human rights activists, politicians and others in more than 100 countries, Meta says.

Meta, formerly known as Facebook, said Thursday that it banned seven companies that sell software and services that have been used to spy on journalists, human rights activists, politicians and others in more than 100 countries.

The firms included Israeli-based Cobwebs Technologies, Cognyte, Black Cube and Bluehawk CI. Meta also took action against an Indian company called BellTroX, the North Macedonian firm Cytrox and an unknown entity in China, according to a report released by Meta’s cybersecurity team.

The companies say their services and software are meant to help catch criminals and terrorists, but Meta said that after a months-long investigation the social media giant determined the products were also used to target people outside that group. Some of the tactics included creating fake accounts to search and view people’s social media profiles and their list of friends, engaging with people using fictitious personas and tricking users into giving away their account information by getting them to click on malicious links.

«The ‘surveillance-for-hire’ entities we removed and described in this report violated multiple Community Standards and Terms of Service. Given the severity of their violations, we have banned them from our services,» the report said. Meta didn’t list the customers of the firms but said they included private individuals, law firms and businesses.

The move is an example of how tech giants are taking action against companies that sell software and services used for surveillance. In November, Apple sued NSO Group, an Israel-based firm that developed spyware known as Pegasus found on the phones of journalists, human rights workers, executives and government workers including at least nine US State Department employees.

Meta pulled down about 1,500 accounts on Facebook and its photo service Instagram tied to the seven surveillance-for-hire groups and also issued cease-and-desist warnings. The social media company said it alerted roughly 50,000 people it believes were targeted. The alert says Facebook believes a «sophisticated attacker» may be targeting the person’s account and warns users about accepting friend requests from people they don’t know or chatting with strangers. Facebook then recommends that users go through their privacy and security settings to make sure their accounts are secure.

Facebook has rules against people misrepresenting themselves on the social network to deceive other people, including through fake accounts. The company said law enforcement groups can submit lawful requests for information from the platform.

CNET reached out to the companies cited in the report. Black Cube, which called itself a «litigation support firm,» said in a statement that it «does not undertake any phishing or hacking and does not operate in the cyber world.»

Citizen Lab, a cybersecurity watchdog organization in Canada, released research Thursday that said Ayman Nour, former Egyptian presidential candidate and Egyptian opposition leader, and an Egyptian exiled journalist who wishes to remain anonymous were hacked with Predator spyware created and sold by Cytrox. An email to Cytrox bounced back.

Technologies

This Transformable Electric Truck Could Become the Cheapest EV in the US

Merging retro touches with a high-tech electric platform, the Slate Truck offers a customizable, budget-friendly alternative to traditional EVs.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections Hints, Answers and Help for April 27, #686

Hints and answers for Connections for April 27, #686.

Looking for the most recent Connections answers? Click here for today’s Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands puzzles.

Today’s Connections puzzle might make you hungry — especially if you spot the four words in the blue category. Read on for clues and today’s Connections answers.

The Times now has a Connections Bot, like the one for Wordle. Go there after you play to receive a numeric score and to have the program analyze your answers. Players who are registered with the Times Games section can now nerd out by following their progress, including number of puzzles completed, win rate, number of times they nabbed a perfect score and their win streak.

Read more: Hints, Tips and Strategies to Help You Win at NYT Connections Every Time

Hints for today’s Connections groups

Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group, to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.

Yellow group hint: Do the math.

Green group hint: Tresses.

Blue group hint: Munchies.

Purple group hint: Think Stockholm.

Answers for today’s Connections groups

Yellow group: Calculator buttons.

Green group: Amounts of hair.

Blue group: Salty snack unit.

Purple group: Swedish ____.

Read more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here Are the Most Popular Letters Used in English Words

What are today’s Connections answers?

The yellow words in today’s Connections

The theme is calculator buttons. The four answers are equals, minus, percent and times.

The green words in today’s Connections

The theme is amounts of hair. The four answers are lock, shock, thatch and tuft.

The blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is salty snack unit. The four answers are Combo, Goldfish, Ruffle and Taki.

The purple words in today’s Connections

The theme is Swedish ____. The four answers are Chef, Fish, massage and meatball.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Strands Hints, Answers and Help for April 27, #420

Here are hints — and answers — for the NYT Strands puzzle No. 420 for April 27.

Looking for the most recent Strands answer? Click here for our daily Strands hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.

Sleep used to be so simple, but now it can be complex, as we try to add in extra things to help us get that good night’s rest. Today’s NYT Strands puzzle highlights sleep assistance, and a few of the words are tricky. If you need hints and answers, read on.

I go into depth about the rules for Strands in this story.

If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections and Mini Crossword answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: NYT Connections Turns 1: These Are the 5 Toughest Puzzles So Far

Hint for today’s Strands puzzle

Today’s Strands theme is: Sleep tight

If that doesn’t help you, here’s a clue: Zzzzz…

Clue words to unlock in-game hints

Your goal is to find hidden words that fit the puzzle’s theme. If you’re stuck, find any words you can. Every time you find three words of four letters or more, Strands will reveal one of the theme words. These are the words I used to get those hints, but any words of four or more letters that you find will work:

BEDS, MINE, TAKE, TAKES, TAKER, STAKE, LATS, EARL, PLUG, PLUGS, ROUT, MIKE, DATE

Answers for today’s Strands puzzle

These are the answers that tie into the theme. The goal of the puzzle is to find them all, including the spangram, a theme word that reaches from one side of the puzzle to the other. When you’ve got all of them (I originally thought there were always eight but learned that the number can vary), every letter on the board will be used. Here are the nonspangram answers: