The phone numbers, email addresses, locations as well as other personal information of more than 533 million users of Facebook have reportedly been found on a website used by hackers.
According to reliable reports, the breach included the records of six million users from India, 11 million users from the UK, and 32 million users from the United States. The data is thought to be more than a year old, however reports have confirmed that the data might still provide cybercriminals with necessary details to cheat or impersonate other individuals.
The Facebook data leak was first found in January 2021 when Alon Gal, co-founder and CTO of cybercrime intelligence firm Hudson Rock, discovered an automated bot advertising the information on the same hacking medium.
Liz Bourgeois, Director of Strategic Response Communications, Facebook, stated that this data was earlier reported in 2019 and the issue was found and fixed.
However, Gal while disputing Bourgeois’ statement tweeted, that more than 533 million accounts having their respective personal data leaked is seemingly being considered ‘fixed’ by the leading social media giant.
This breach comes at a time where Australia’s Morrison Government is considering a rule that will force social media users in Australia to submit around 100 points of identification in order to maintain their social media account.
According to 1 of 88 recommendations from a report of parliamentary committee report that is looking at family, domestic, as well as sexual violence, this will apply to platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, along with online dating apps like Tinder.
A report by the Queensland Anti-cyber-bullying Taskforce, claimed that the initiative might create numerous risks associated with privacy given the challenges social media giants have already come across with data security.
The report further notes that the identity verification systems addresses an issue about access to sensitive and personal data. In fact, any rules considered shall thus ensure that these systems do not tend to reuse collected information for any other motive.
At present, there are approximately 2.6 billion active monthly FB users, making it the most famous social media network across the world.
Nandita Bhardwaj
Having a marketing management post graduate degree under her belt, Nandita spent considerable time working in the field of recruitment. However, her real interest lay in playing with words and soon enough, she commenced her career in the field of content creation. Currently, she authors insightfuRead more...