After the Cambridge Analytica scandal, Facebook had tightened its security walls only to be exposed again.
As per the latest reports, Facebook’s security has been breached and 50 million users have been exposed.
The social media giant said attackers were able to exploit a vulnerability in a feature known as “View As” to gain control of people’s accounts.
The breach was discovered on Tuesday, Facebook said, and it has informed the police.
WHAT IS ‘VIEW AS’?
Facebook’s “View As” function is a privacy feature that allows people to see what their own profile looks to other users, making it clear what information is viewable to their friends, friends of friends, or the public.
There were bugs present in this feature which allowed the hackers to steal Facebook access tokens through which they can overtake others’ accounts.
Access tokens are the equivalent of digital keys that keep people logged in to Facebook so they don’t need to re-enter their password every time they use the app.
Major sites, such as AirBnB and Tinder, may also be affected.
The flaw has been fixed, wrote the firm’s vice-president of product management, Guy Rosen, adding all affected accounts had been reset, as well as another 40 million “as a precautionary step”.
WHO ARE THE 50 MILLION?
The firm would not say where in the world the 50 million users are, but it has informed Irish data regulators, where Facebook’s European subsidiary is based.
The company said the users prompted to log-in again did not have to change their passwords.
An investigation has been started but is yet to determine whether any on the 50 million users have been misused?
Facebook is not certain who or where the attackers are based.
Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and its chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg were among the 50 million accounts affected.
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