Facebook ( FB) today announced that some 50 million user accounts were impacted by a security breach that allowed the attackers to potentially take over users\u2019\u2026<\/b>
\nFacebook ( FB) today announced that some 50 million user accounts were impacted by a security breach that allowed the attackers to potentially take over users\u2019 profiles.
\u201cThis is a serious issue, and we\u2019ve already taken a number of steps to address this,\u201d CEO Mark Zuckerberg explained during a press call.
\u201cWe\u2019re in touch with law enforcement to help identify the attackers,\u201d Zuckerberg added.
In a press release Facebook\u2019s VP of product management Guy Rosen explained that the issue was the result of an exploit found in the social media site\u2019s View As feature, which lets users see what their own profiles would look like from the perspective of other users.
\u201cOur investigation is still in its early stages,\u201d Rosen explained via a blog post . \u201cBut it\u2019s clear that attackers exploited a vulnerability in Facebook\u2019s code that impacted \u201cView As\u201d, a feature that lets people see what their own profile looks like to someone else.
\u201cThis allowed them to steal Facebook access tokens which they could then use to take over people\u2019s accounts,\u201d Rosen continued. \u201cAccess tokens are the equivalent of digital keys that keep people logged in to Facebook so they don\u2019t need to re-enter their password every time they use the app.\u201d
According to Rosen, Facebook has already fixed the flaw and reset the access tokens for the 50 million impacted accounts. The company has also reset the access tokens to an additional 40 million accounts that were the subject of a View As look up as a precautionary measure. In total, 90 million users will have to log back into their Facebook accounts the next time they open the Facebook app or use an app that uses a Facebook login.
In his post, Rosen said that Facebook still isn\u2019t sure who the attackers were that used the exploit, or if any information was accessed.
Facebook has faced increased scrutiny since the Cambridge Analytica scandal broke in April, and the issue of user privacy and data protection has become a matter of national importance. On Wednesday the Senate Commerce Committee held a public hearing on user privacy and data protection, which included representatives from Apple, Amazon, AT&T, Google, Twitter and Charter.
Facebook\u2019s Sheryl Sandberg also attended a meeting in front of the Senate Intelligence Committee last month discussing how the company was working to prevent future election interference similar to what happened during the 2016 election.
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