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FTC Files Complaint Against Sendit App, CEO Over Illegal Data Collection From Children

cyberexpress Oct 01, 2025 Compliance

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has filed a complaint against social app Sendit and its CEO Hunter Rice, alleging that the company unlawfully harvested children’s data, misled users about privacy protections, and violated federal children’s privacy law. The complaint, lodged in the U.S. District Court for the show more ...

Central District of California, accuses the app’s parent company, Iconic Hearts, of building its business on deceptive practices while targeting one of the most vulnerable demographics online: children under 13. According to the FTC’s complaint, Sendit—an app that integrates with Snapchat and Instagram and allows users to ask anonymous questions and play interactive games—has been downloaded more than 30 million times. Its youthful user base, the agency said, was no accident. The app allegedly positioned itself as a fun, social environment for teenagers while simultaneously tracking their activity, collecting identifiers, and using the data for targeted advertising without parental consent. Alleged COPPA Violations At the core of the lawsuit is the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), which requires companies to obtain verifiable parental consent before collecting personal information from children under 13. The FTC alleges Sendit not only failed to do this but also knowingly ignored evidence that its user base included large numbers of minors. The complaint cites internal company communications showing executives were aware that children as young as 11 years old were active on the app. Despite this, Iconic Hearts allegedly continued to collect data points such as device identifiers, IP addresses, and usage patterns, then monetized that information by selling ad space through third-party networks. “The defendants knowingly and unlawfully collected personal information from numerous children under the age of 13, without informing parents or obtaining their consent,” the filing said. Christopher Mufarrige, Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, added to it saying, “Sendit’s operator and CEO were well aware that many of its users were under the age of 13 and still failed to comply with COPPA. At the same time, they manipulated many users, including children, into signing up for their weekly subscription service by sending fake messages and promising to reveal the identity of message senders but failing to deliver.” Deceptive Privacy Disclosures The FTC also accuses Sendit of misleading users about its privacy protections. The app’s disclosures and marketing promised control over who viewed personal data, but in practice those features were minimal and misleading. Furthermore, the FTC contends Sendit employed “dark patterns”—interface tactics that pushed users to share more information and stay active—even when they may not have understood the tradeoffs. Iconic Hearts and Rice are also accused of willfully targeting a juvenile audience. Rather than tailoring policies for children, the FTC alleges that Sendit fostered growth by minimizing friction at every turn, capturing attention and data while sidestepping transparency. The CEO is named personally to emphasize accountability at decision-making levels. The case against Sendit is the latest in a string of FTC enforcement efforts aimed at social media apps popular with minors. Just this month, Disney agreed to pay $10 million to settle similar allegations of unlawful data collection on children’s platforms. Regulators say the Sendit case illustrates how smaller, fast-growing apps can become blind spots in the broader fight over kids’ online safety. Also read: Disney to Pay $10M After FTC Finds It Enabled Children’s Data Collection Via YouTube Videos If Sendit and Rice lose, they face civil fines, orders to delete unlawfully obtained data, and ongoing oversight. The complaint seeks injunctive relief that could ban the company from collecting children’s data unless strict safety controls are in place. Sendit has yet to comment publicly. But the FTC’s strategy is to go after platforms targeting minors. These platforms need to include compliance into growth strategies—any app masking data extraction behind youthful engagement risks becoming the next enforcement headline.

EU Threat Landscape: Hacktivism, DDoS Attacks and Ransomware Dominate

cyberexpress Oct 01, 2025 Cyber News

The EU threat landscape is dominated by hacktivism, DDoS attacks and ransomware, according to the new 2025 ENISA Threat Landscape report. ENISA, the EU Agency for Cybersecurity, released the report today. It examines nearly 4,900 cyberattacks that occurred between July 2024 and June 2025 and offers insights into the show more ...

broad cyber trends affecting the continent. Key findings include: DDoS attacks – largely launched by hacktivists – were by far the most common cyber incident, accounting for just under 77% of reported incidents. Intrusions were a distant second at just under 18%. Supply chain attacks are on the rise, and the lines between hacktivism, cybercrime and state-sponsored threats continue to blur, with “increasingly shared toolsets and modus operandi.” Ransomware was by far the most dominant malware type, accounting for 83.5% of all malware identified in intrusions. Backdoors, spyware, infostealers, RATs, banking trojans, webshells and keyloggers all accounted for 5% or less (chart below). [caption id="attachment_105675" align="aligncenter" width="372"] Most common EU malware (ENISA)[/caption] “The reporting period highlights a maturing threat environment characterised by rapid exploitation of vulnerabilities and growing complexity in tracking adversaries,” the report said. “Intrusion activity remains significant, with ransomware at its core.” Phishing, Vulnerability Exploits and Mobile Threats Dominate EU Threat Landscape Phishing was the most common initial intrusion vector at 60%, well ahead of vulnerability exploitation at 21.3%. Botnets and malicious applications were at 9.9% and 8%, and insider threats at just under 1% (chart below). [caption id="attachment_105673" align="aligncenter" width="345"] EU initial intrusion vector (ENISA)[/caption] Vulnerability exploits are much more likely than phishing to result in malware deployment, by 68% to 23%. “Overall, the distribution underscores that while phishing dominates the threat landscape, technical exploits, malware delivery mechanisms and insider risks remain meaningful concerns,” the report said. Artificial intelligence (AI) “has become a defining element of the threat landscape,” accounting for more than 80 percent of worldwide social engineering activity, with jailbroken models, synthetic media and model poisoning techniques being used to enhance threat actor effectiveness. ClickFix-style scams and the weaponization of compromised WordPress sites to distribute infostealers are other growing threat trends. Of recorded intrusions, 68.6% led to data breaches that were offered for sale on cybercrime forums, and 2.8% of those advertised breaches were presented as a direct outcome of a ransomware attack. Data exfiltration, including credential theft (8.9%) and strategic data collection (21.3%), accounted for 30.2% of intrusion outcomes, and fraud was an outcome in 1.2% of cases. Mobile threats account for the largest share of threats at 42.4%, followed by web threats at 27.3% (chart below). Operational technology (OT) threats represent 18.2% of threats and supply chain risks comprise 10.6% of threats, “showing that attackers are actively leveraging indirect pathways through third-party providers and dependencies.” [caption id="attachment_105672" align="aligncenter" width="360"] EU threats by attack type (ENISA)[/caption] Hacktivism, Cyberespionage and Cybercriminals in the EU State-aligned threat groups “intensified their long-term cyberespionage campaigns against the telecommunications, logistics networks and manufacturing sectors in the EU, demonstrating advanced tradecraft such as supply chain compromise, stealthy malware frameworks and abuse of signed drivers,” the report said. While hacktivist activity - much of it aligned with Russia - continues to dominate the EU threat landscape, accounting for nearly 80% of recorded incidents, it is “driven primarily by low-level distributed denial-of-service operations.” While only 2% of hacktivism incidents result in service disruption, “these campaigns demonstrate how low-cost tools are scaled for ideology-driven operations,” ENISA said. In terms of sectoral targeting, public administration networks remain a primary focus of attacks at 38%, notably for hacktivists and state-sponsored threat actors. Transportation has emerged as a high-value sector, particularly maritime and logistics. Aviation and freight operations have been the target of ransomware attacks, while “digital infrastructure and services remain strategic targets for both cyberespionage and ransomware operators,” ENISA said. Cybercriminals, meanwhile, have “notably responded to the actions of law enforcement by decentralising operations, adopting aggressive extortion tactics and capitalising on regulatory compliance fears.” Below is a breakdown of EU cyberattacks by motivation, with ideologically-driven attacks far outpacing financially-motivated attacks and cyberespionage. [caption id="attachment_105677" align="aligncenter" width="430"] EU cyberattack objectives (ENISA)[/caption]

Google Sheds Light on ShinyHunters' Salesforce Tactics

darkreading Oct 01, 2025 Feed

Mandiant provided proactive defenses against UNC6040's social engineering attacks that have led to several Salesforce breaches.

Shutdown Threatens US Intel Sharing, Cyber Defense

darkreading Oct 01, 2025 Feed

Lapse of critical information sharing and mass furloughs at CISA are just some of the concerns.

A $50 'Battering RAM' Can Bust Confidential Computing

darkreading Oct 01, 2025 Feed

Researchers have demonstrated an attack that can break through modern Intel and AMD processor technologies that protect encrypted data stored in memory.

Undead Operating Systems Haunt Enterprise Security Networks

darkreading Oct 01, 2025 Feed

Windows 10 reaches end-of-life on Oct. 14, which will triple the number of vulnerable enterprise systems and create a massive attack surface for cybercriminals.

China Imposes One-Hour Reporting Rule for Major Cyber Incidents

darkreading Oct 01, 2025 Feed

The sweeping new regulations show that China's serious about hardening its own networks after launching widespread attacks on global networks.

China-linked hacking group Phantom Taurus targeting embassies, foreign ministries

cyware Oct 01, 2025 News

Espionage hackers aligned with China are targeting foreign ministries, embassies and telcos across Africa, the Middle East and Asia, researchers have found.

Seniors targeted in global Facebook scam spreading new Android malware

cyware Oct 01, 2025 Cybercrime

The scam originated in Australia in August but has since been seen in several countries around the globe.

1.2 million people had information stolen during cyberattack on WestJet

cyware Oct 01, 2025 Cybercrime

Canadian airline WestJet disclosed to regulators that a data breach earlier this year exposed the information of about 1.2 million people.