Facebook Says User Data Leak Was Not Hacked

Facebook Director of Product Management Mike Clark commented on the leakage of 533 million records with data of users of the social network. He stated that the incident was not related to the platform’s hacking, but the information was obtained by collecting information from open sources.

Clarke stressed that the attackers collected the database by exploiting a vulnerability in the Facebook contact import system and specialized software even before September 2019, when this “hole” was closed.

“While we resolved an issue we discovered in 2019, it’s always a good idea to check your own privacy settings to ensure that public information is being posted correctly. The tool “How people find you and connect with you” can help users with this. We also recommend that you regularly check the appropriate settings and enable two-factor authentication, ”said a company representative.

Information about the leakage of 533 million records with user data appeared in early April. The database contained information such as date of birth, phone numbers, email addresses, and more. In total, residents of 106 countries were affected, including 10 million Russians.

The database even contained personal data from Mark Zuckerberg. Cybersecurity specialist Dave Walker joked that if journalists can’t get Zuckerberg’s comment through official channels, they can call him.