Fake Facebook Warlord Used to Spread Malware, Researchers Say
- Hacker impersonates insurgent Libya general to trick thousands
- Facebook removes pages, working to prevent malicious activity
Photographer: Ed Jones AFP via Getty Images
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In one of the largest malware campaigns to exploit Facebook Inc., a suspected Libyan hacker lured tens of thousands of people into exposing personal information and granting access to personal devices, Israeli cyber security company Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. said.
A Facebook page impersonating Khalifa Haftar, the head of a militia fighting Libya’s internationally recognized government, was Check Point’s first clue to an attack that had been going on for five years, the company said. Repetitive spelling mistakes in Arabic that suggested dyslexia helped researchers track other pages set up by the hacker, who used an avatar called Dexter Ly, it added.