Image by Austin Distel, from Unsplash
Meta Deletes 10 Million Facebook Accounts in Content Crackdown
- Written by Kiara Fabbri Former Tech News Writer
- Fact-Checked by Sarah Frazier Former Content Manager
Meta has confirmed that it removed 10 million Facebook profiles during the initial half of 2025.
In a rush? Here are the quick facts:
- Meta deleted over 10 million impersonator Facebook profiles in three months.
- The company penalized 500,000 more accounts for deceptive or spammy behavior.
- New rules target “unoriginal” content reposted without proper credit or transformation.
The platform faced an influx of spam and unoriginal content because these accounts impersonated prominent content creators. The company is pushing forward with stronger measures to protect real content creators from imitation, fake engagement, and stolen content.
The large-scale removal extends beyond impersonator profiles. Meta performed actions against 500,000 profiles which exhibited spammy behavior. The platform implemented three types of restrictions against these users, which included content spread limitations, comment hiding, and payment restriction.
“What we want to combat is the repeated reposting of content from other creators without permission or meaningful enhancements,” the company added.
To make Facebook more engaging and fair, Meta is also testing features like link attribution, which directs viewers to the original version of a duplicated video, as noted by Cybernews .
As AI tools make it easier to mass-produce repetitive content, Meta joins other tech giants like YouTube in fighting what’s been dubbed “AI slop.”
Image by Adrien, from Unsplash
Hackers Hide Malware In DNS Records To Evade Detection
- Written by Kiara Fabbri Former Tech News Writer
- Fact-Checked by Sarah Frazier Former Content Manager
Cybersecurity researchers have discovered a new, stealthy hacking technique, which hides malware inside DNS records.
In a rush? Here are the quick facts:
- Hackers are hiding malware inside DNS TXT records of legitimate-looking domains.
- Malware is split into tiny hex chunks and reassembled using DNS queries.
- Attackers also used DNS to launch prompt injection attacks on AI bots.
Attackers use this technique to evade traditional security tools by embedding dangerous code in areas that most systems do not inspect, as first reported by ArsTechnica .
The Domain Name System (DNS) functions as a system that converts website names into IP addresses. Hackers now employ DNS as an unorthodox data storage solution.
Researchers at DomainTools detected attackers embedding malware within TXT records of the domain whitetreecollective[.]com. The records, which serve to prove website ownership, contained numerous small text fragments which, when merged, formed malicious files.
The malware included a file for ‘‘Joke Screenmate’’, which functions as a type of nuisance software that disrupts normal computer use. The attackers transformed the file into hexadecimal format before distributing it through various subdomains. A network administrator who possesses access to the system can quietly gather these chunks through DNS requests that appear harmless.
“Even sophisticated organizations with their own in-network DNS resolvers have a hard time delineating authentic DNS traffic from anomalous requests, so it’s a route that’s been used before for malicious activity,” said Ian Campbell, senior security operations engineer at DomainTools, as reported by ArsTechnica.
“The proliferation of DOH and DOT contributes to this by encrypting DNS traffic until it hits the resolver, which means unless you’re one of those firms doing your own in-network DNS resolution, you can’t even tell what the request is, no less whether it’s normal or suspicious,” Campbell added.
Campbell discovered that certain DNS records served as platforms to execute prompt injection attacks against AI chatbots . These hidden commands attempt to trick bots into leaking data or disobeying rules.
Said Campbell: “Like the rest of the Internet, DNS can be a strange and enchanting place.”
