533 Million Facebook Users’ Personal Info Reportedly Shared on Hacking Site
Written by SOURCE on April 5, 2021
Personal information for more than 533 million Facebook users across 106 different countries was published over the weekend in what’s being described as a “low level hacking forum.”
Of the more than 533 million reported users, more than 32 million of them are said to be based in the U.S. Information shared to the hacker-utilized site—as first reported by Business Insider—included phone numbers, full names, locations, email addresses, birthdates, Facebook IDs, and more.
Mentioned in the Insider report from this weekend is the fact that a Facebook spokesperson told the publication the leaked information in question stems from a vulnerability circa 2019 that has since been remedied. And while that would make the data itself a couple of years old, the team at Hudson Rock—a cyber intelligence firm that first spotted the collection of leaked data—has argued that it still boasts potential value for anyone angling for nefariously obtained login info.
Initially, this particular batch of data—per Hudson Rock CTO Alon Gal—was offered for a price. Over the weekend, however, it was discovered that “the entire dataset” had been shared for free.
Complex has reached out to reps for Facebook and Hudson Rock for additional comment and will update this post accordingly.
As of late, controversies surrounding Facebook have been focused on the battle against COVID-19 misinformation on the platform. In March, Facebook announced a range of new measures aimed at limiting the spread of potentially harmful pandemic-related content. In the same press release, CEO Mark Zuckerberg also expressed his personal support of vaccines as a safe and effective way to eventually put the pandemic behind us.
