Apple, Meta Provided Hackers With Customer Data Under Fraudulent Requests

Meta and Apple reportedly provided customer data to hackers masquerading as law enforcement, Bloomberg reported Wednesday (March 30).

Citing three people familiar with the matter, the report said that in response to fake “emergency data requests,” the tech giants provided the hackers with basic subscriber details like customers’ addresses, phone numbers and IP addresses in the middle of last year.

The requests are usually only provided through a search warrant or subpoena by a judge, though emergency requests don’t require such an order. Snap also reportedly received a forged legal request, though Bloomberg noted that it didn’t have information on whether the company provided data in reply.

Per the report, law enforcement usually asks social media platforms for information about users as part of criminal investigations. In the U.S., they usually come with a signed judge order, though the emergency requests are used in special cases of “imminent danger.”

Bloomberg wrote that hackers working with a cybercrime group called “Recursion Team” were likely behind this, according to anonymous sources.

In a response to Bloomberg, an Apple representative referred to some of its law enforcement guidelines, including that a supervisor submitting a request “may be contacted and asked to confirm to Apple that the emergency request was legitimate.”

Meanwhile, Meta spokesman Andy Stone said the company looks over every data request for legal sufficiency, using “advanced systems and processes” to look for abuse.

PYMNTS wrote that Meta has also been dealing with a spate of fake luxury goods circulating on its platforms, including big names like Gucci and Chanel. The platforms have become rife with the fake items.

Read more: Facebook, Instagram Marketplaces Rife With Fake Luxury Goods, Report Says

As of early February, counterfeiters had opened up more than 26,000 active accounts on various platforms. A Reuters report likened the brands’ work on policing social media sites to “whack-a-mole.”

Meta has been looking more into online shopping, and fighting counterfeiters is reportedly an important factor in that, the company said.