Meta is proud to be partnering with the National Urban League, the Associated Builders and Contractors, and CBRE, as well as community partners across the country including, the US Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, STRIVE, Boone County Economic Development Corporation (IN), Richland Parish Chamber of Commerce (LA), Workforce Solutions Borderplex (TX), and Ohio Chamber of Commerce (OH).

We are launching America’s Workforce Academy (AWA) to build upon the huge demand we saw for Meta’s first major initiative of this kind, Level-Up, Meta’s fiber installation training program that received 35,000 applications in the first seven days.

The United States labor market needs hundreds of thousands of fiber technicians, welders, plumbers, electricians and other skilled trade workers. At Meta, we see this as an incredible opportunity for these American heroes to power America’s future. 

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If you want to help build America’s future, you can apply to America’s Workforce Academy here.

Dina Powell McCormick, Meta President and Vice-Chairman, said: “The AI revolution is bringing change but also historic opportunities. Skilled workers electrified rural America one pole at a time. They manned the factories that built the arsenal that won World War II. Now a new generation will pour the foundations and lay the fiber that secures American strength in this new age.”

Mike Rowe, CEO of the mikeroweWORKS Foundation, said: “Closing America’s skills gap requires us to not only make a more persuasive case for the skilled trades in general, it requires us to completely rethink the way we train the next generation of skilled workers. America’s Workforce Academy does both. Workers are actually paid to learn. There is zero cost to them, no college debt and a fast certification, with a guaranteed job on the other end. This is an important step in the right direction, and one that I hope other companies will be inspired to take.” 

Marc H. Morial, National Urban League President and CEO, said: “America’s Workforce Academy represents the kind of bold, inclusive investment our economy urgently needs. At a time when too many Americans are searching for pathways to stable, family-supporting careers, this initiative opens doors, particularly for communities who historically have been excluded from opportunity. By removing cost barriers, providing industry-recognized credentials, and guaranteeing employment, AWA is helping to build a more equitable and resilient workforce for the future.”

Rachel Peterson, Vice President, Data Centers, Meta, said: “The AI infrastructure we’re building today requires an incredible workforce to make it a reality. America’s Workforce Academy is our commitment to building that workforce with the same ambition and long-term thinking we bring to the technology itself. America needs hundreds of thousands of skilled tradespeople — electricians, mechanics, fiber technicians and more — and this program creates clear, accessible pathways into those careers.” 

Michael Bellaman, ABC president and Chief Executive Officer, said: “America’s Workforce Academy is a transformational endeavor creating incredible opportunities, and ABC is proud to partner with Meta and CBRE to welcome all who want to build their career dreams in construction. This innovative talent pipeline solution addresses the industry’s ongoing workforce shortage by utilizing ABC’s existing, proven, nationwide education ecosystem. The sustained demand for data center construction technicians means the industry needs an all-of-the-above approach to grow the construction talent pool.”

Bob Sulentic, CBRE Chair and Chief Executive Officer, said: “We are excited to serve as a key partner for Meta on the management of America’s Workforce Academy — from candidate intake and qualification to hands-on training, in collaboration with the Associated Builders and Contractors. In this role, we are leveraging the full scope and expertise of CBRE to recruit, train, and deploy thousands of skilled workers who will support Meta in building out their AI infrastructure.”

The post America’s Workforce Academy: The Future Is for Everyone appeared first on Meta Newsroom.

Last year, WhatsApp made history by securing a landmark verdict and permanent injunction barring NSO Group — a spyware firm blacklisted for actions contrary to US national security — from targeting WhatsApp and its users ever again. The court was unequivocal: NSO violated the federal and state laws against hacking. Today, we’re asking the court to hold them in contempt of that order.

Catching and Disrupting NSO’s Targeting Attempts

We successfully disrupted NSO-linked social engineering attempts, after investigating user reports. They tried to trick people into clicking on malicious links to drive them to external websites outside of WhatsApp, similar to previously reported 1-click phishing campaigns linked to NSO. We also caught them creating test accounts and groups on WhatsApp, which we took down. 

We are sharing threat indicators so that anyone can check if they were targeted by NSO-linked social engineering attempts across any platform — be it text message, email, WhatsApp message, or something else.

Spyware Is a National Security Threat

Since 2019, our case has shown that NSO continues to build spyware tools to target people’s devices. Its CEO confirmed in court that the company  looks for “vectors, or ways to access the phone” beyond WhatsApp, targeting browsers, operating systems, and other applications. 

No technology is off-limits to surveillance-for-hire firms, whose reported targets range from journalists to government officials, military personnel, and humanitarian organizations. 

When a malicious company on the US government’s Entity List continues to defy US courts, existing restrictions must remain firmly in place. Easing them would undermine US national security and put American companies and billions of people worldwide who depend on secure communications at risk.

No Company Can Fight Spyware Alone

When we originally discovered NSO’s 2019 attack, Citizen Lab helped us investigate it and notify the people who were targeted. When the case first went to trial, our industry peers and other organizations supported it, strengthening the legal record. 

Last month, we were joined by 12 prominent civil rights organizations — a coalition of security researchers, privacy advocates, and digital rights experts — who filed their amicus briefs to fight NSO’s appeal against the permanent injunction. 

Today, we are beginning to deliver on our promise to support digital rights organizations working to defend people against spyware attacks by making a significant contribution to the Spyware Accountability Initiative (SAI). SAI supports dozens of organizations worldwide focused on forensic research, user support, and advocacy. 

For example, a Citizen Lab zero-day discovery led to an Apple security update for over a billion devices. This year, a Greek court issued the first-ever criminal conviction of spyware company executives, a case built on forensic evidence and investigative reporting by civil society.

This work is demanding, often dangerous, and consistently under-resourced compared to the spyware industry that continues to develop new exploits. We’re committed to doing our part to support this critical effort.

As always, WhatsApp users’ personal messages and calls remain protected with default end-to-end encryption. We encourage people to keep their apps and devices up to date and report suspicious activity so we can quickly investigate and take action. For those who believe they may be targeted by sophisticated cyber attacks, we strongly recommend enabling strict account settings to harden their WhatsApp accounts even more.

Threat Indicators Malicious domains:

• hxxps://ikhwancast[.]com
• hxxps://ghazacast[.]com
• hxxps://fr24cast[.]com

The post Fighting Spyware: An Update From WhatsApp appeared first on Meta Newsroom.