Facebook Hacked – What Information Was Compromised?

“As a result, around 90 million people will now have to log back in to Facebook, or any of their apps that use Facebook Login”, said Facebook. First, They fixed the vulnerability and informed law enforcement.

Facebook said it has turned off the feature for now and has reset those 50 million accounts and another 40 million just to be safe.

Remissa Hirji, a lawyer with Charney, said that nobody – including Facebook – knows what hackers can or will do with the information they acquired.

You may have noticed that when you log into your Facebook account once, a security key (access token) is generated, which helps the app to login to the user’s account next time without a password.

Facebook has faced a lot of scrutiny over various aspects of its business and its capability to protect its users’ information from any hack or breach. The hackers have also tried accessing profile information like name, gender, location and photos from the compromised accounts.

The hack is the latest setback for Facebook during a year of tumult for the global social technology behemoth.

Facebook has not revealed whether the attackers attempted to extract private data from users’ profiles. “Once logged in, the attackers could take control”.

“Today’s disclosure is a reminder about the dangers posed when a small number of companies like Facebook or the credit bureau Equifax are able to accumulate so much personal data about individual Americans without adequate security measures”, Warner notified in a statement shortly after Facebook’s disclosure, according to NASDAQ.com. In terms of whoever actually pulled it off, she went on to compare them to an “odorless, weightless intruder” that wormed into the company’s systems which Facebook could only detect “once they made a certain move”.

It is accused of spreading disinformation and propaganda including via postings – often in the form of sponsored ads that target users based on their personal data – that could influence opinion, for example over immigration. “It does seem broad”.

It’s also still not clear who was behind the attack, and Facebook isn’t making any sort of attribution yet. According to the Journal, EU regulators often decline to issue a maximum fine when a company has cooperated, in part of fully, with an investigation. Jake Williams, a security expert at Rendition Infosec, said he is concerned that the hack could have affected third party applications.

In 2015 Facebook makes changes to its privacy policy and prevents third-party apps from accessing the data of users’ friends without their consent.

“We face constant attacks from people who want to take over accounts or steal information around the world”, Zuckerberg said on his Facebook page.

Its hard to find someone who doesn’t have a Facebook account. While the Central Bureau of Investigation has launched an inquiry over the Cambridge Analytica scandal, Facebook-owned WhatsApp has been under government scrutiny over the spread of fake news and rumours on its platform, which led to mob violence and killings in the country.