Facebook 533m Newmanwired, the world’s largest social networking site, has suffered yet another massive data breach. This time, the personal information of over 533 million users was exposed online, according to a report by Business Insider.
The breach was discovered by Alon Gal, CTO of cybercrime intelligence firm Hudson Rock, who found a user on a hacking forum advertising access to a database containing the personal information of Facebook users. The data included users’ full names, phone numbers, email addresses, birthdays, and even some location data.
It is not yet clear who is responsible for the breach or how the data was obtained. However, it is believed that the data was scraped from Facebook’s servers by malicious actors.
The data breach has potentially serious consequences for the affected users, including identity theft, phishing scams, and other forms of cybercrime. Experts are urging users to take steps to protect themselves, such as changing their passwords and enabling two-factor authentication on their Facebook accounts.
Facebook has responded to the breach by stating that the data was obtained through a vulnerability that the company patched in 2019. However, critics argue that the company should have done more to protect its users’ data, particularly given its history of data privacy violations.
This latest data breach is just the latest in a long line of scandals for Facebook, which has faced increasing scrutiny over its handling of user data in recent years. The company has been criticized for its lax data privacy policies and its failure to prevent the spread of misinformation on its platform.
As more and more users rely on social media for communication, entertainment, and even news, it is clear that companies like Facebook have a responsibility to do more to protect their users’ data. The question is whether Facebook and other social media companies will take the necessary steps to address these concerns, or whether they will continue to prioritize profit over user privacy.