Meta Platforms said it took steps to counter malicious activities orchestrated by eight different firms operating in the surveillance-for-hire industry across Italy, Spain, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

The eight companies identified in Meta Platforms' report are Cy4Gate/ELT Group, RCS Labs, IPS Intelligence, Variston IT, TrueL IT, Protect Electronic Systems, Negg Group, and Mollitiam Industries. These entities utilized various malware to carry out their surveillance activities across multiple platforms and devices.

The spyware, which targeted iOS, Android, and Windows devices, could access and collect a wide array of sensitive information from the devices, including device details, location data, photos, contacts, calendar events, emails, SMS messages, social media interactions, and messaging applications. Additionally, it could activate the microphone, camera, and take screenshots without the user's consent.

Furthermore, the surveillance tactics extended beyond device infiltration. The firms engaged in scraping, social engineering, and phishing activities targeting popular social media and messaging platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter (now known as X), YouTube, Skype, GitHub, Reddit, Google, LinkedIn, Quora, Tumblr, VK, Flickr, TikTok, Snapchat, Gettr, Viber, Twitch, and Telegram.

In early February, Google's Threat Analysis Group (TAG) released a report shedding light on on the rising dangers posed by the commercial surveillance industry (CSV) and its exploitation of zero-day vulnerabilities in Android and iOS devices. Of the 72 in-the-wild zero-day exploits discovered since mid-2014, 35 zero-days have been traced to commercial spyware vendors.

Additionally, Meta Platforms has taken action against networks from China, Myanmar, and Ukraine for engaging in coordinated inauthentic behavior (CIB), resulting in the removal of over 2,000 accounts, Pages, and Groups from Facebook and Instagram.

Sweden-based telecom security firm ENEA revealed in the separate report it reproduced a user fingerprinting technique named MMS Fingerprinting, originally advertised and sold by the Israeli spyware vendor NSO Group.

This technique allows the collection of smartphone and operating system information simply by sending an MMS message. The root of the issue lies in the design of the MMS standard itself, which was established before the era of advanced smartphones. A notable aspect of this technique is that it requires no user interaction beyond knowledge of the target's phone number, as asserted by NSO Group.

ENEA found out about MMS Fingerprinting from court documents filed by WhatsApp in 2019 during its legal battle with NSO Group. The technique was mentioned in a contract between an NSO reseller and Ghana's telecom regulator.

In other related news, Barcelona-based Variston, is reportedly ceasing operations following an investigation by Google Threat Analysis Group. As per TechCrunch’s report, in the past year, more than half a dozen Variston employees have left the company.