Meta takes down Indian firm’s phishing network CyberRoot Risk Advisory is the second Indian firm that Meta has cracked down on for allegedly operating fake accounts used in suspected efforts to hack people’s phones, computers and online accounts such as their social media or emails.

Meta has taken down a network of fake accounts on Facebook and Instagram that were being operated by an Indian firm called CyberRoot Risk Advisory. This network, consisting of around 40 accounts, primarily engaged in social engineering and phishing, often intended to trick people into giving up their credentials to various online accounts across the Internet.
CyberRoot Risk Advisory is the second Indian firm that Meta has cracked down on for allegedly operating fake accounts used in suspected efforts to hack people’s phones, computers and online accounts such as their social media or emails. The firm’s hacking actions were focused on business executives, lawyers, doctors, activists, journalists and members of the clergy in countries like Kazakhstan, Djibouti, Saudi Arabia, South Africa and Iceland.

CyberRoot is part of the global surveillance-for-hire industry that targets people across the internet to collect intelligence, manipulate them into revealing information and compromise their devices and accounts. These firms are part of a sprawling industry that provide intrusive software tools and surveillance services indiscriminately to any customer, and are typically used against opposition politicians, journalists, human rights activists, and rival businesses.