Fraudsters are exploiting enterprise chat apps like Teams and Webex to trick Chinese victims into transferring large sums of money, fueling a wave of complaints.

OpenAI banned Russian ChatGPT accounts tied to a covert influence campaign involving copied research, fake attribution and coordinated social posts.

The post OpenAI Bans Russian ChatGPT Accounts Used in Covert Influence Campaign appeared first on TechRepublic.

The US Navy has told its entire workforce of 340,000 active-duty personnel, 58,000 reservists, and 210,000 civilian employees to clean up their social media profiles, because adversaries might be using them to determine who they are, where they live, and when they may not be at home. Read more in my article on the Hot for Security blog.

TikTok and ByteDance agree to pay up to $400 million to settle US allegations involving children’s data, parental consent and account deletion.

The post TikTok Agrees to $400M Settlement Over Children’s Privacy appeared first on TechRepublic.

Discover how LinkedIn successfully reduced AI slop views by 40% using a new user reporting tool. Learn about the platform's shift in generative AI policies.

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The post LinkedIn AI Slop Reduction: A Necessary Course Correction appeared first on Daily CyberSecurity.

France’s Constitutional Council blocked an under-15 social media ban, raising questions over free expression, age verification and online privacy.

The post France’s Top Court Blocks Under-15 Social Media Ban appeared first on TechRepublic.

A New Mexico court has ordered Meta to pay a total of $942 million after finding that Facebook and Instagram harmed young users and that the company misled consumers about the safety of its platforms.

Reportedly, the decision combines a $375 million civil-penalty verdict from March with a newly ordered $567 million abatement fund intended to address the damage. The court accepted the state’s argument that Meta had concealed what it knew about risks to children’s mental health and child sexual exploitation, while making misleading claims about the safety of its products.

Meta said it disagreed with the ruling and planned to appeal.

“We remain confident in our record of protecting teens online and will continue to defend ourselves against claims that misrepresent the facts.”

But the ruling is more than just a fine. It also imposes product-level obligations in New Mexico. Meta must continue improving its age-assurance tools, including:

• Develop an under-13 prediction model within two years.
• Seek proof of age from users it estimates are under 13.
• Treat uncertain accounts as belonging to minors until their age is verified.
• Delete personal data collected from under-13 users.

The company must also create a channel through which schools or a child-safety organization can report suspected underage accounts and submit compliance updates twice a year.

This is a significant step. A company can remove individual accounts or posts after the fact, but the New Mexico case focuses on whether the surrounding product design, age checks, disclosure practices, and reporting systems adequately protect children in the first place.

From Meta’s side, this is hardly a one-off incident. The Wall Street Journal reports that Meta is fighting thousands of lawsuits by individuals, school districts, and more than 40 state attorneys general which are pending in state and federal courts. 

---

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How to keep your children safe

In February, we published research on how safe kids are when using social media. As the company behind Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, Meta plays a major role in this field. But unfortunately, it seems Meta isn’t even capable of blocking ads that contain AI generated Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM).

Some tips for parents:

• Keep communication open. Keep conversations about online activity open and ongoing, not one-off warnings. Talk to your child about who they interact with online and what kinds of conversations are appropriate. Warn them about strangers in comments, group and gaming chats, and direct messages. Encourage them to leave spaces that make them uncomfortable, even if they didn’t do anything wrong.
• Set up accounts together. Use child or teen accounts where available and avoid defaulting to adult accounts. Keep friends and followers lists set to private. Avoid using real names, birthdays, or other identifying details unless they are strictly required. Avoid facial recognition features for children’s accounts. For teens, be aware of “spam” or secondary accounts they’ve set up that may have looser settings.
• Treat age limits seriously. While we don’t like many of the ways they are implemented, the age restrictions are there for good reasons. Do not help children bypass a platform’s minimum age requirement. Age restrictions can reduce exposure to adult spaces, unwanted contact, and features not designed for children.
• Discuss images and AI explicitly. Teach children never to send intimate images, even to someone they know, and to be wary of “nudify,” face-swap, or AI image-editing apps. Explain that AI-generated sexual images can be used to harass, blackmail, or humiliate someone, even when no original explicit photo exists.
• Have a simple escalation plan. If someone becomes sexual, coercive, threatening, or asks to move a conversation to another app: stop replying, preserve relevant evidence, block the account, and report it to the platform and appropriate child-protection or law-enforcement services.
• Teach a “pause before you click” habit. Children should know that ads, giveaways, direct messages, and links can be scams or gateways to harmful material. Encourage them to ask an adult before installing unfamiliar apps, entering personal information, or sharing photos.

The most effective and probably hardest of them all is to find a balance between relying on device and platform controls and helicopter parenting. Device and platform controls can limit screen time, sensitive content, and unknown contacts. And they work best alongside trust, shared rules, and periodic check-ins rather than covert surveillance.

---

Scammers don’t need to hack you. They just need you to click once. 

Malwarebytes Identity Theft Protection catches suspicious activity before it becomes a problem.

The FBI has issued a Public Service Announcement (PSA) warning that criminals are breaking into social media and personal accounts to steal and distribute intimate images and videos without consent. The FBI refers to this type of content as non-consensual intimate images (NCII).

The stolen material may be posted or sold on criminal marketplaces alongside victims’ names, phone numbers, email addresses, and social media handles, creating opportunities for harassment, stalking, and sextortion.

According to the FBI, criminals use a mix of account takeover and social engineering tactics:

• Password and PIN guessing: Criminals make high-volume login attempts using data from breaches, public social media profiles, leak sites, and other publicly available sources. Known victims may be targeted using name variations, birth dates, and other predictable personal details.
• Fake customer service texts: Victims receive a message claiming their social media account will be locked or disabled. The criminal triggers a legitimate password reset request, then persuades the victim to hand over the resulting verification code.
• Phishing emails: Lookalike support domains and email addresses warn of a “new login” and direct victims to a fake password change page designed to steal credentials.

This is different from the familiar “I recorded you” sextortion email, which typically relies on intimidation rather than a real account compromise. Still, if such an email includes a password you still use, change it immediately wherever it remains in use.

How to stay safe

There are several ways to reduce the risk of becoming a victim:

• Avoid storing sensitive images on social media platforms or other internet-connected services when possible. Breaches and leaks happen, and those images can end up in the wrong hands.
• Use a password manager to create a unique, long password for every account. Don’t base passwords or PINs on names, birthdays, or other public information.
• Turn on multi-factor authentication (MFA), preferably with passkeys or hardware security keys where available. MFA is valuable, but criminals can still phish one-time codes and session cookies, so never approve an unexpected prompt or share a verification code.
• Treat unexpected “account warning” links in texts and emails as suspicious. Open the service’s official app or type the known web address yourself instead. Don’t trust sponsored search results to take you to the correct website.

If you discover that intimate content has been stolen or shared, preserve any relevant links and evidence, secure the affected accounts, and report it through the FBI’s NCII reporting portal at ncii.ic3.gov.

---

Scammers don’t need to hack you. They just need you to click once. 

Malwarebytes Identity Theft Protection catches suspicious activity before it becomes a problem.

Note The July 2026 Dark Web Threat Actor Trend Report focuses on trends among threat actors—including hacktivists—active on the deep web and dark web. It is explicitly noted that the factual accuracy of some content could not be verified. Major Issues Handala claimed to have compromised the core infrastructure of an Internet service provider in […]

Meta must pay $567 million and change Facebook and Instagram protections for minors under a New Mexico court order it plans to appeal.

The post Meta Ordered to Pay $567M and Overhaul Teen Safety on Facebook, Instagram appeared first on TechRepublic.

A New Mexico court has ordered Meta to pay a total of $942 million after finding that Facebook and Instagram harmed young users and that the company misled consumers about the safety of its platforms.

Reportedly, the decision combines a $375 million civil-penalty verdict from March with a newly ordered $567 million abatement fund intended to address the damage. The court accepted the state’s argument that Meta had concealed what it knew about risks to children’s mental health and child sexual exploitation, while making misleading claims about the safety of its products.

Meta said it disagreed with the ruling and planned to appeal.

“We remain confident in our record of protecting teens online and will continue to defend ourselves against claims that misrepresent the facts.”

But the ruling is more than just a fine. It also imposes product-level obligations in New Mexico. Meta must continue improving its age-assurance tools, including:

• Develop an under-13 prediction model within two years.
• Seek proof of age from users it estimates are under 13.
• Treat uncertain accounts as belonging to minors until their age is verified.
• Delete personal data collected from under-13 users.

The company must also create a channel through which schools or a child-safety organization can report suspected underage accounts and submit compliance updates twice a year.

This is a significant step. A company can remove individual accounts or posts after the fact, but the New Mexico case focuses on whether the surrounding product design, age checks, disclosure practices, and reporting systems adequately protect children in the first place.

From Meta’s side, this is hardly a one-off incident. The Wall Street Journal reports that Meta is fighting thousands of lawsuits by individuals, school districts, and more than 40 state attorneys general which are pending in state and federal courts. 

---

---

How to keep your children safe

In February, we published research on how safe kids are when using social media. As the company behind Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, Meta plays a major role in this field. But unfortunately, it seems Meta isn’t even capable of blocking ads that contain AI generated Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM).

Some tips for parents:

• Keep communication open. Keep conversations about online activity open and ongoing, not one-off warnings. Talk to your child about who they interact with online and what kinds of conversations are appropriate. Warn them about strangers in comments, group and gaming chats, and direct messages. Encourage them to leave spaces that make them uncomfortable, even if they didn’t do anything wrong.
• Set up accounts together. Use child or teen accounts where available and avoid defaulting to adult accounts. Keep friends and followers lists set to private. Avoid using real names, birthdays, or other identifying details unless they are strictly required. Avoid facial recognition features for children’s accounts. For teens, be aware of “spam” or secondary accounts they’ve set up that may have looser settings.
• Treat age limits seriously. While we don’t like many of the ways they are implemented, the age restrictions are there for good reasons. Do not help children bypass a platform’s minimum age requirement. Age restrictions can reduce exposure to adult spaces, unwanted contact, and features not designed for children.
• Discuss images and AI explicitly. Teach children never to send intimate images, even to someone they know, and to be wary of “nudify,” face-swap, or AI image-editing apps. Explain that AI-generated sexual images can be used to harass, blackmail, or humiliate someone, even when no original explicit photo exists.
• Have a simple escalation plan. If someone becomes sexual, coercive, threatening, or asks to move a conversation to another app: stop replying, preserve relevant evidence, block the account, and report it to the platform and appropriate child-protection or law-enforcement services.
• Teach a “pause before you click” habit. Children should know that ads, giveaways, direct messages, and links can be scams or gateways to harmful material. Encourage them to ask an adult before installing unfamiliar apps, entering personal information, or sharing photos.

The most effective and probably hardest of them all is to find a balance between relying on device and platform controls and helicopter parenting. Device and platform controls can limit screen time, sensitive content, and unknown contacts. And they work best alongside trust, shared rules, and periodic check-ins rather than covert surveillance.

---

Scammers don’t need to hack you. They just need you to click once. 

Malwarebytes Identity Theft Protection catches suspicious activity before it becomes a problem.

Several WhatsApp users say they were wrongly suspended after automated moderation errors, raising concerns about appeals, access, and false positives.

The post WhatsApp Users Say They’re Being Locked Out of Accounts by Mistake appeared first on TechRepublic.

Meta is removing Instagram videos that use Ray-Ban smart glasses to harass strangers, highlighting growing privacy concerns around AI-powered wearable cameras.

The post Meta Begins Removing Harassing Ray-Ban Smart Glasses Videos From Instagram appeared first on TechRepublic.

Meta is under renewed scrutiny after researchers found thousands of AI "nudify" ads on Facebook and Instagram, raising questions about the company's advertising enforcement.

The post Meta Faces Scrutiny After Report Finds Thousands of AI Nudify Ads on Facebook, Instagram appeared first on TechRepublic.

Meta is introducing a free Facebook badge that uses video selfies to verify human-run accounts, but questions remain about privacy and trust.

The post Meta Launches Free Facebook Verification Badge for Personal Accounts appeared first on TechRepublic.

France will ban social media for children under 15, requiring nationwide age checks and raising privacy and platform compliance concerns.

The post France Bans Social Media for Under-15s, Requires Age Checks appeared first on TechRepublic.

The Dubai Police fraudulent visa ads warning has cautioned the public against scams offering work visas, residency visas, and visit visas in exchange for money. According to the Anti Fraud Centre at Dubai Police's General Department of Criminal Investigation, fraudsters are using social media platforms and messaging apps to circulate fake visa offers by impersonating official entities or using the names of unlicensed companies. The advisory was issued as part of Dubai Police's Be Aware of Fraud campaign, which aims to raise awareness about online scams and help residents identify fraudulent schemes.

Dubai Police Fraudulent Visa Ads Circulating on Social Media

According to Dubai Police, scammers are promoting visa services through advertisements and messages that claim to offer work, residency, or visit visas for a fee. The Anti Fraud Centre said these advertisements are designed to convince victims to transfer money by falsely claiming to represent government authorities or licensed visa service providers. Some also use the names of unlicensed companies or offices to appear legitimate. Dubai Police urged the public not to rely on such offers and reminded residents that all visa procedures should be completed only through competent authorities or legally approved offices.

Authorities Urge Public to Verify Visa Offers

The Anti Fraud Centre said verifying the source of a visa service is the first step in avoiding visa fraud. Residents have been advised to confirm the authenticity of any visa offer or application process through official channels before making payments or sharing personal information. The centre also warned against dealing with intermediaries or unknown individuals claiming they can arrange visas through unofficial means. Dubai Police said people should not be misled by promises of guaranteed visas or job opportunities that are offered outside the legal process.

How to Report Fraud Attempts

Dubai Police has asked members of the public to report any fraud or attempted fraud immediately. Reports can be submitted through the Dubai Police Smart App, the eCrime platform for cybercrime reports, or by calling 901. The Anti Fraud Centre reiterated that staying informed and verifying service providers through official channels remain the most effective ways to avoid falling victim to fraudulent visa schemes.

The European Commission is moving closer to introducing new measures on Child Safety Online after President Ursula von der Leyen received recommendations from a Special Panel examining the impact of social media on children. The report, released Monday, calls for stronger safeguards, greater platform accountability, and age-appropriate restrictions as the EU prepares to review the findings and present legislative proposals after the summer.

Speaking alongside the panel's co-chairs, von der Leyen said protecting children online has become one of the most pressing challenges facing governments. She stressed that parents, not algorithms, should shape children's development and warned that the current digital environment is exposing young users to growing risks.

Child Safety Online Becomes a Priority for the EU

Von der Leyen said the Special Panel examined both the opportunities and harms created by social media algorithms and their effects on children. According to the findings highlighted in her statement, young people across Europe now spend between four and six hours each day on screens, while nearly 60% of young children have experienced emotional or psychosocial problems online.

She said these challenges include loss of sleep, anxiety, depression, cyberbullying, exposure to harmful content, and unwanted online interactions, all occurring while children's brains are still developing.

"We believe that parents bring up our kids, and not predatory algorithms," von der Leyen said, adding that social media platforms should no longer have unrestricted access to children.

Digital Services Act Places Responsibility on Platforms

A key recommendation focuses on holding technology companies accountable for the safety of their services. Von der Leyen said platforms that build online systems should also be responsible for ensuring they do not harm users, particularly children.

She pointed to the Digital Services Act (DSA) as the EU's framework for requiring providers to remove harmful features, including addictive algorithms, dark patterns, harmful content, and unwanted contacts.

According to the Commission President, the EU has already taken action under the Digital Services Act against TikTok over its addictive design and recently against Meta. She said platforms have a duty of care toward users and must respond quickly when children report harmful experiences.

EU Considers Social Media Age Restrictions

The report also strengthens the case for introducing social media age restrictions, with von der Leyen arguing that the debate is no longer about whether children use social media but when platforms should be allowed to reach them.

She said the European Union's age verification app is designed to help parents by providing an easy-to-use, privacy-preserving, and open-source tool to verify age before accessing online platforms.

Von der Leyen also suggested that Europe should consider establishing a "social media start date," comparing it to existing age limits for driving and purchasing alcohol.

Panel Calls for Age-Appropriate Digital Access

According to the statement, children under the age of three should have no exposure to screens or digital platforms. Older children should only access social media under parental, caregiver, or teacher supervision and within limited time periods.

Von der Leyen said childhood is a critical stage of brain development and argued that children need opportunities to play, build real-world friendships, and develop their identities before algorithms begin shaping their online experiences.

She added that policymakers should first identify platforms with age-inappropriate and addictive features, describing the category as "social media plus," before considering phased access for different age groups.

EU to Review Recommendations Before New Proposal

The European Commission said the report comes after consultations with parents, educators, experts, young people, EU member states, and international partners, including Australia.

Von der Leyen confirmed that the Commission will now review the recommendations before presenting a formal proposal after the summer.

While no legislative measures have yet been announced, the report signals the EU's intent to strengthen Child Safety Online protections by expanding platform accountability, improving age verification, and evaluating new rules governing children's access to social media.

Meta scrapped a Muse Image feature days after launch following backlash over consent, privacy, and the use of public Instagram photos.

The post Meta Removes Muse Image Instagram Feature After Consent Backlash appeared first on TechRepublic.