Facebook says an attack on its network left the personal information of some 50 million users—perhaps you?—exposed to hackers. Who were the hackers, and what did they want? Facebook doesn’t know, or won’t say. But the company has confirmed that execs Mark Zuckerberg and Sheryl Sanders were among the users affected.
“We have a responsibility to protect your data, and if we can’t then we don’t deserve to serve you,” Zuckerberg said about Facebook’s Cambridge Analytica scandal earlier this year.
Well. You heard the man.
Mike Isaac and Sheera Frankel in the New York Times:
The company discovered the breach earlier this week, finding that attackers had exploited a feature in Facebook’s code that allowed them to take over user accounts. Facebook fixed the vulnerability and notified law enforcement officials.
More than 90 million of Facebook’s users were forced to log out of their accounts Friday morning, a common safety measure for compromised accounts.
Facebook said it did not know the origin or identity of the attackers, nor had it fully assessed the scope of the attack. The company is in the beginning stages of its investigation.
The discovery of the hack comes at one of the most difficult times in Facebook’s history. The company has dealt with fallout over its role in a widespread Russian disinformation campaign around the 2016 presidential election.
(…) Even before Friday’s disclosure, Facebook was facing multiple Federal investigations into the company’s broader data sharing and privacy practices. The Securities and Exchange Commission has opened an investigation into Facebook’s statements on Cambridge Analytica.
Facebook faces likely government regulation over monopoly and influence concerns, and it faces consequences for its role in the Cambridge Analytica scandal, from EU, UK, and US legal forces.
This major news will not help Mark Zuckerberg and his company in their struggles.