50 million Facebook accounts got hacked and data stolen | Social Media
Web Desk: Social media giant Facebook revealed that it suffered a serious data breach and account login information of 50 million users was hacked and stolen, reported Independent.
In a conference call last night, it is revealed among the affected Facebook users, both Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg has their account information in the social network hack.
Hackers are believed to have exploited a trio of security flaws to steal ‘access token’ a digital key that allows returning Facebook users to log easily back into the social media, without repeating username and login prompts.
According to Facebook VP of product Management, Guy Rosen confirmed that unknown attackers exploited a vulnerability in Facebook’s code.
Facebook CEO, Mark Zuckerberg called the attack “a serious issue” in a call with reporters last night. “We don’t know if any (Facebook) accounts were actually misused,” he added.
Facebook said it’s still investigating the extent of the security breach and it’s temporarily disabling thee “view as” feature, a privacy tool that allows Facebook users to see how their personal profiles appear to other people on Facebook and beyond.
Why more than your Facebook account info might have been stolen?
Hackers not only stole the ability to access 50 million users’ Facebook accounts, but because of the nature of the Facebook hack — which involved stealing digital tokens or login credentials of a Facebook user — they also can affect other websites and services where the affected Facebook account was used to register or login.
This potentially exposes some of the biggest apps and services like Tinder, Airbnb, Spotify and even Instagram, which is owned by Facebook, for the same hackers to exploit and effectively misuse.
What you should do?
It’s advisable to change your Facebook account’s password, as a security measure, whether your account was or wasn’t affected by this security hack. Reacting to this latest Facebook setback, shares of the company fell 2.6% on Friday across US stock markets, according to Reuters.