Facebook in the Spotlight Once Again for a Massive Data Breach
It’s a new day, so you should expect news about another data breach—again, with Facebook. According to research, tons of Facebook user data was recently exposed on cloud computing servers owned by Amazon.
According to UpGuard, a cybersecurity firm, it is believed that Facebook app developers store the data on the servers, but they did so in a way that allowed the public to download it. One of these groups stored more than 500 million records on the servers, but it’s not yet clear how many people might have been affected. Another developer stored Facebook passwords for more than 20,000 people.
According to “the powers that be” at UpGuard, it is believed that the data was gathered through some type of Facebook integration. Basically, Facebook allows its developers to integrate these websites, apps and other info with its platform, which allows people to sign into another account by using their Facebook account.
Facebook has stated that it prohibits its developers from storing Facebook information in any public database. It said that once it was alerted to the breach, it began working with Amazon. The company also says that it is committed to working with its app developers to protect its users’ data.
This is only the latest incident that shines a bright light on Facebook’s struggle to keep its users’ data safe. With more than two billion users, this is extremely important, and it is surely going to put the social media giant under increased scrutiny.
Just about a year ago, Cambridge Analytica, which is a data firm that has connections to the Trump presidential campaign, was able to access information from almost 90 million Facebook users without their consent.
Facebook has stated that the data was first collected by a professor, who was doing it for academic reasons, which is or was actually allowed according to Facebook’s policies. The information was then transferred to a number of third party companies, including Cambridge Analytica, which is in direct violation of Facebook’s policies.
Since the Cambridge Analytica scandal, Facebook has been under scrutiny for offering its users’ data to more companies than it had admitted previously. In the last year, the company also admitted that hackers had exploited some type of bug in the Facebook platform, which ultimately exposed the information of almost 50 million people.
People from all over the world have criticized the way Facebook stores data, and the U.S. Federal Trade Commission is thought to be looking into a fine against Facebook for violating a data privacy agreement. Facebook was fined £500,000 ($653,000) over the issue with Cambridge Analytica.
Robert Siciliano personal security and identity theft expert and speaker is the author of Identity Theft Privacy: Security Protection and Fraud Prevention: Your Guide to Protecting Yourself from Identity Theft and Computer Fraud. See him knock’em dead in this Security Awareness Training video.
