Fake Facebook warlord used to spread malware, researchers say

A hooded man holds laptop computer as cyber code is projected on him in this illustration picture taken on May 13, 2017. Capitalizing on spying tools believed to have been developed by the U.S. National Security Agency, hackers staged a cyber assault with a self-spreading malware that has infected tens of thousands of computers in nearly 100 countries. REUTERS/Kacper Pempel/Illustration

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 cybersecurity company Check Point Software Technologies Ltd said. 

A Facebook page impersonating Khalifa Haftar, the head of a militia fighting Libya’s internationally recognised 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.