According to a report released on Meta’s website, the parent company of Facebook, an online group in Pakistan engaged in targeting individuals, including military personnel, in both India and Pakistan during the first quarter of the current year. The report, titled “Adversarial Threat Report, First Quarter 2023,” disclosed Meta’s efforts to combat three separate cyber espionage operations in South Asia. These operations were associated with a group of hackers referred to as “Bahamut APT” in the security industry, as well as another group known as “Patchwork APT,” and a “state-linked group in Pakistan.”
The report emphasized the involvement of fake apps and websites on Facebook and Instagram, which were employed to deliver malware and engage in espionage activities, as well as perpetrate financial crimes worldwide. It also provided details regarding the takedown of six networks due to policy violations.
These APTs relied heavily on social engineering and invested in making some of their fake accounts into more varied and elaborate fictitious personas with backstops across the internet so they can withstand scrutiny by their targets, platforms and researchers.
