Facebook discovered a security breach that allowed hackers to access information for up to 50 million user accounts. The company announced the news on Friday. Lindsey Granger has more:
Facebook said on Friday that an attack on its computer network had exposed the personal information of nearly 50 million users.
The company said it discovered the breach this week. The attackers exploited a feature in Facebook’s code that allowed them to take over user accounts. Early Friday, Facebook forced more than 90 million users to log out of their accounts, a common safety measure taken when accounts have been compromised.
Facebook said it had fixed the vulnerability and notified law enforcement officials.
“We’re taking it really seriously,” Mark Zuckerberg, the company’s chief executive, said in a conference call with reporters. “I’m glad we found this, but it definitely is an issue that this happened in the first place.”
Facebook said it did not know the origin or identity of the attackers, nor had it fully assessed the scope of the attack. Its investigation is still in its beginning stages, it said.
The attackers exploited two bugs in the site’s “view as” feature, which allows users to view their own profiles as if they were someone else, Facebook said. The feature was built to give users more control over their privacy.
Video by Veuer/Lindsey Granger[/vc_message]
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