Meta

Pierluigi Paganini January 12, 2025
How a researcher earned $100,000 hacking a Facebook server

Facebook paid $100,000 to a researcher for discovering a bug that granted him command access to an internal server in October 2024. TechCrunch first reported that Facebook awarded security researcher Ben Sadeghipour (@NahamSec) $100,000 for reporting a vulnerability that granted him access to an internal server. The researcher emphasized the vulnerability of online ad platforms due to […]

Pierluigi Paganini January 08, 2025
Meta replaces fact-checking with community notes post ‘Cultural Tipping Point’

Meta is replacing its fact-checking program with a “community notes” system, citing a shift in moderation strategy after a “cultural tipping point.” Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced that the fact-checking program should be ended and replaced with a community-driven system. Zuckerberg cited a shift toward free speech and explained that the new model will be […]

Pierluigi Paganini December 18, 2024
Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC) fined Meta €251 million for a 2018 data breach

Meta has been fined €251M ($263M) for a 2018 data breach affecting millions in the EU, marking another penalty for violating privacy laws. The Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC) fined Meta €251 million ($263M) for a 2018 data breach impacting 29 million Facebook accounts. “The Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC) has today announced its final […]

Pierluigi Paganini November 16, 2024
NSO Group used WhatsApp exploits even after Meta-owned company sued it

Court filing revealed that NSO Group used WhatsApp exploits after the instant messaging firm sued the surveillance company. NSO Group developed malware that relied on WhatsApp exploits to infect target individuals even after the Meta-owned instant messaging company sued the surveillance firm. “As a threshold matter, NSO admits that it developed and sold the spyware […]

Pierluigi Paganini November 06, 2024
South Korea fined Meta $15.67M for illegally collecting and sharing Facebook users

South Korea fined Meta $15.67M for illegally collecting and sharing Facebook users’ sensitive data, including political views and sexual orientation, with advertisers. South Korea’s data privacy watchdog, Personal Information Protection Commission (PIPC), fined Meta 21.62 billion won ($15.67 million) for illegally collecting sensitive personal information from Facebook users, including data about their political views and […]

Pierluigi Paganini July 04, 2024
Brazil data protection authority bans Meta from training AI models with data originating in the country

Brazil’s data protection authority temporarily banned Meta from using data originating in the country to train its artificial intelligence. Brazil’s data protection authority, Autoridade Nacional de Proteção de Dados (ANPD), has imposed a temporary ban on Meta from processing users’ personal data for training its artificial intelligence (AI) models. “The National Data Protection Authority (ANPD) issued […]

Pierluigi Paganini June 18, 2024
Meta delays training its AI using public content shared by EU users 

Meta announced it is postponing the training of its large language models using public content from adult Facebook and Instagram users in the EU. Meta announced it is delaying the training of its large language models (LLMs) using public content shared by adults on Facebook and Instagram following the Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC) request. […]

Pierluigi Paganini March 04, 2024
META hit with privacy complaints by EU consumer groups

This is my interview with TRT International on the Meta dispute with EU consumer groups, which are calling on the bloc to sanction the company EU consumer groups are calling on the bloc to sanction the company Meta – which owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp – for allegedly breaching privacy rules. Earlier this week, Meta […]

Pierluigi Paganini March 03, 2024
U.S. Judge ordered NSO Group to hand over the Pegasus spyware code to WhatsApp

A U.S. Court ordered surveillance firm NSO Group to hand over the source code for its Pegasus spyware and other products to Meta. Meta won the litigation against the Israeli spyware vendor NSO Group, a U.S. Judge ordered the surveillance firm to hand over the source code for its Pegasus spyware and other products to the social network giant. […]

Pierluigi Paganini February 29, 2024
Researchers found a zero-click Facebook account takeover

A critical vulnerability in Facebook could have allowed threat actors to hijack any Facebook account, researcher warns. Meta addressed a critical Facebook vulnerability that could have allowed attackers to take control of any account. The Nepalese researcher Samip Aryal described the flaw as a rate-limiting issue in a specific endpoint of Facebook’s password reset flow. […]