FBI says cybercriminals are hacking into victims’ online accounts to steal their intimate pictures

FBI says cybercriminals are hacking into victims’ online accounts to steal their intimate pictures

美国联邦调查局(FBI):网络犯罪分子正入侵受害者在线账户以窃取私密照片

The FBI is warning that cybercriminals are hacking into the social media accounts of adults and children to steal their intimate explicit images and videos. The perpetrators rely largely on social engineering tactics to target people, the alert said, and victims are often extorted, or their stolen content published online. 美国联邦调查局(FBI)发出警告称,网络犯罪分子正在入侵成人和儿童的社交媒体账户,以窃取其私密露骨的照片和视频。该警报指出,犯罪分子主要依靠社会工程学手段锁定目标,受害者往往会遭到勒索,或者被窃取的私密内容会被发布到网上。

“Victims often face re-victimization through harassment, sextortion, stalking or other targeted attacks, such as advertising stolen content on a victim’s own social media page,” the FBI wrote. FBI 写道:“受害者往往会面临二次伤害,包括骚扰、性勒索、跟踪或其他针对性攻击,例如在受害者自己的社交媒体页面上宣传其被窃取的私密内容。”

These types of crimes have been known for years. But the FBI’s public alert could indicate that these incidents are now on the rise, according to Rachel Tobac, the CEO of the security awareness training firm SocialProof Security. Tobac said that these attacks especially target young boys, and that these attacks are “a big public health issue,” given that sometimes the victims are driven to self-harm in response. 这类犯罪已存在多年。但安全意识培训公司 SocialProof Security 的首席执行官 Rachel Tobac 表示,FBI 的公开警报可能表明此类事件目前呈上升趋势。Tobac 指出,这些攻击尤其针对年轻男孩,鉴于有时受害者会因此产生自残行为,这些攻击已成为“一个重大的公共卫生问题”。

When reached, the FBI did not comment but referred TechCrunch to a press release, in which the bureau said it “has determined that student-athletes are frequently targeted due to their public profiles.” 在联系 FBI 时,该机构未予置评,而是向 TechCrunch 提供了一份新闻稿。新闻稿中称,FBI“已确定学生运动员因其公开的个人资料而经常成为攻击目标”。

The FBI’s advisory said the attackers rely on brute-forcing accounts using leaked or previously used passwords, impersonating customer service representatives by pretending to work for Instagram and other social media companies, and contacting targets alleging that they need to recover their account. Some hackers use phishing emails that rely on fake domains that look like legitimate social media login pages. FBI 的建议指出,攻击者主要通过以下手段进行入侵:利用泄露或曾使用过的密码对账户进行暴力破解;冒充 Instagram 等社交媒体公司的客服人员,联系目标受害者并谎称需要协助其恢复账户。一些黑客还会使用钓鱼邮件,通过伪造看起来像合法社交媒体登录页面的虚假域名来实施诈骗。

To protect yourself, use unique passwords stored in a password manager, ensure multi-factor authentication is switched on, and be suspicious of anyone reaching out unprompted claiming to work for a social media company, as tech companies generally do not reach out to their customers. The FBI urges people to avoid storing intimate pictures in online accounts. 为了保护自己,请使用存储在密码管理器中的唯一密码,确保开启多因素身份验证,并对任何主动联系你且自称是社交媒体公司员工的人保持警惕,因为科技公司通常不会主动联系客户。FBI 敦促民众避免在在线账户中存储私密照片。