I couldn’t help but think of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet this week when I read that Facebook has plans to change its name because the brand is toxic. In the play, Juliet proclaims, “ ’Tis but thy name that is my enemy.” Apparently, Facebook believes the same of its current designation. Yet Juliet goes on to muse, “What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” Translation: If Romeo changes his name, he’ll still be the same guy, just not a Montague. So, if Juliet is right, Facebook’s toxicity won’t disappear under a new name. You heard it here first.

Social media made headlines this week for myriad reasons. Reuters reported that Snap shares fell, which its owner blamed on Apple’s privacy updates. But social media’s spotlight this week wasn’t solely on stock values and privacy policies. CBS News reported on the growing challenges of fighting fraudulent social media accounts, as fraudsters are using people’s real names and photos to create fake accounts. Meanwhile, Today reported on allegations that China is targeting millions of Americans online with disinformation.

And, as I’m sure you know by now, former President Trump announced he’s launching his own social media platform. One glitch is that the site claims, “ ‘all source code’ of Truth Social is proprietary.” Vice, however, reported that screenshots of the HTML indicate the code is based on Mastodon. Eugen Rochko, founder and lead developer of Mastodon, told Vice, “With Truth Social saying that its code is proprietary, ‘that would be a problem, as that would indicate a license violation.’ ”

For more stories from the social media frontlines, explore our Library of content.

Now let’s look at other cybersecurity headlines from this week.

Oct. 22: War on the Rocks reported on the Tianfu Cup competition that was held earlier this month, during which the Chinese government, “demonstrated the continued ability to hold key Western systems and networks at risk, highlighted the substantial depth of China’s offensive cyber inventories, and showed off a talent base of aggressive hackers undeterred by blowback from international exposure of its activities.”

Oct. 21: The Hill reported, “The United States and other nations earlier this week in a joint operation hacked and forced offline the REvil cyber criminal group, which has been linked to several major ransomware attacks this year.”

Oct. 21: Javvad Malik waxed philosophical about the ways that psychology can improve cybersecurity awareness programs.

Oct. 21: “A South Korean company named DeepBrain AI has announced the creation of AI Studios, a SaaS-based studio that makes it possible to create films without, as their media advisory spells out, the need to ‘film in-person or employ real people,’ ” VentureBeat reported.

Oct. 20: During a virtual roundtable on cybersecurity, US Deputy Attorney General for the US Justice Department said it needs the help of private industry in order to track down cybercriminals, Reuters reported.

Oct. 20: ZDNet reported, “Gartner analysts predicted weaponized OT environments will result in human casualties by 2025 due to malware that they believe will spread at ‘wirespeeds.’ The analysts say by that time, cybercriminals will shift from business disruption to physical harm, leading to regulations placing liability on CEOs.”

Oct. 20: During its virtual Security Congress 2021, (ISC)² announced intentions to provide an entry-level cybersecurity certification.

Oct. 19: Satellites in space are not yet considered “critical infrastructure” by the US government, but Dawn Beyer, Senior Fellow at Lockheed Martin—who participated in a panel discussion hosted by Aerospace Corp. and the Space Information Sharing and Analysis Center, or Space ISAC—said, “of all the domains, space is the furthest behind when it comes to cybersecurity.”

Oct. 19: BleepingComputer reported, “A group of hackers that security researchers call LightBasin has been compromising mobile telecommunication systems across the world for the past five years.”