Toole Insurance

7 days ago

Facebook Security Breach
Affects Nearly 50 Million
Accounts
On Sept. 28, 2018, Facebook announced
that nearly 50 million user accounts were
compromised in a data breach. The breach,
which can be traced back to July 2017, is
one of the largest in the company’s 14-year
history.
While investigations are ongoing, the
company said hackers exploited a software
vulnerability in Facebook’s "View As"
feature to steal access tokens and gain
control of user accounts. Access tokens are
effectively digital keys to specific accounts,
and stealing them allows attackers to view
private posts or compose status updates
without the knowledge of the affected user.
In addition, the attack allowed the hackers
to see anything that users can see on their
own profile, including the names and birth
dates of friends and family members. Such
information could be used in future phishing
attacks.
In response to the attack, Facebook reset
90 million logins automatically, fixed the
software vulnerability and informed law
enforcement officials. While the company
says that users do not need to change their
passwords, individuals experiencing login
issues should navigate to Facebook’s Help
Center. ... See MoreSee Less