Facebook Breach Could Have Affected as Many as 14 Million People

A recent analysis of the Facebook breach indicates that more than 14 million people could have had their personal data exposed as a result.

In September 2018, the Facebook breach became public knowledge when the company revealed that 50 million user accounts were breached by hackers who used a flaw in the “view as” function of the social media site. A follow-up investigation into the Facebook breach by the company has revealed that the personal information of 14 million people was made available to hackers.

Some of the personal data available through the Facebook breach reportedly includes hometown locations, birth states, relationship status, education, and the 15 most recent searches those people had carried out.

The results of Facebook’s investigation also revealed that, while as many as 30 million users were affected at all, 14 million users had extremely personal details leaked to hackers.

A security flaw was identified as the cause behind the Facebook breach. The Facebook “view as” feature reportedly allowed hackers to not just see inside of a person’s profile but also to potentially take it over.

A blog post from the company about the Facebook breach said that people would be able to check whether or not they were impacted by that attack by visiting the help center managed by Facebook online. Customized messages will be sent to the 14 million users identified by the company has having their personal information accessed by hackers in the Facebook breach, according to the company’s disclosure.

Facebook also reported that they had not yet identified who could have been behind the attack, but that the FBI is involved in the investigation of the most recent Facebook breach. The initial estimate of affected account users was 50 million, although that was later reduced to 30 million.

According to Facebook’s investigation into the breach, access tokens, a part of the “view as feature,” were stolen by hackers. The Facebook breach exposed the personal information of around 30 million people and nearly 15 million of those same people had their contact details and names exposed.

A second group of 14 million people had more personalized details accessed, such as the pages or people they follow, the last 10 places they checked into and their 15 most recent searches. Experts say that the exposure of this type of information makes users vulnerable in future hacking attempts, particularly phishing email efforts that attempt to trick people into disclosing personal information such as passwords.

There are more than 2 billion total users on Facebook, and this most recent Facebook breach is the most recent incident stoking concern about the company’s failure to protect the privacy of people. The notorious Cambridge Analyticia scandal involved 87 million users whose information, along with those they were connected with on the social media site, was accessed through a quiz application.

As a result, Facebook has come under fire about security protocols, prompting some people to file lawsuits. Some have also stopped using the website altogether.

These issues have also started important conversations about the protection of private consumer data online and what companies should do to implement anti-hacking programs. Some advocates in the industry are calling for social media regulations established by Congress that would hold these companies accountable to particular protections as it comes to people’s personal information shared on those platforms.

Join a Free Facebook Data Breach Class Action Lawsuit Investigation

If you had a Facebook account by Sept. 27 and your account was affected by the Facebook data breach, you may qualify to join this Facebook class action lawsuit investigation.

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