Cybercriminals Exploit Law Enforcement Data Requests to Steal User Information

While most of the major data breaches occur as a result of software vulnerabilities, credit card information theft, or phishing attacks, increasingly, identity theft crimes are being enacted via an intermediary source that is not immediately apparent. Some of the biggest firms in technology are knowingly yielding private information to what they believe are lawful authorities, only to realize that the identity thieves were masquerading as such.  

Technology firms such as Apple, Google, and Meta are mandated by law to disclose limited information about their users to the relevant law enforcement agencies in given situations such as criminal investigations and emergency situations that pose a threat to human life or national security. Such requests for information are usually channeled through formal systems, with a high degree of priority since they are often urgent. All these companies possess detailed information about their users, including their location history, profiles, and gadget data, which is of critical use to law enforcement. 

This process, however, has also been exploited by cybercriminals. These individuals try to evade the security measures that safeguard data by using law enforcement communication mimicking. One of the recent tactics adopted by cyber criminals is the acquisition of typosquatting domains or email addresses that are almost similar to law enforcement or governmental domains, with only one difference in the characters. These malicious parties then send sophisticated emails to companies’ complian

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