More than millions of Facebook IDs and user information with their phone number, name, and other information, were exposed to a series of online databases that could be a potential spam and phishing campaigns collecting other's data.
This was covered by a security researcher named Bob Diachenko and the whole database information according to the Comparitech. The database was first compared, and it was indexed on December 4th, but as of then, on December 19th, it was unavailable. Comparitech has said that the site was taken down as a whole, and the database was found on a hacker forum as a downloadable file too.
Most of the Facebook users who have been affected by the leak are located in the parts of the US, and the data which are included are done on the people's Facebook ID, username, phone numbers, and even their full name.
Diachenko has commented on this situation and has said that the leaked data was most likely to be a more significant part of something illegal scraping or a hole in the API of Facebook. Scraping is against all the policies of Facebook, but it can be done quickly if the people have a previously set public setting on their profile.
What should you do?
Because of this, Facebook users are advised to set their privacy settings to “Friends” and set the “Do you want search engines outside of Facebook to link to your profile?” setting to “No.” Diachenko also said to be wary of suspicious, unsolicited text messages.
Digital Trends has reached out to Facebook on this matter, and they have commented on the massive data leak and the data and what they have done in response. The officials have said that they will update on this topic in the very first week, and then they can hear back. But it is not the first time of the year that Facebook has set and seen all the privacy-related blocks and mishaps.
As recent as the last month, which was organized, private data of Facebook and Twitter users were compromised through the source of the third party, which took the leak. These were the third party Android apps that were present.
Earlier in the month, it was found out that the private data of the thousands and thousands of group members has been compromised as well. Back in September, another source was reported when people complained that their phone number was leaked, and those phone numbers were the ones associated with the Facebook accounts.
All these were exposed to an online user database. The records have said that these are made of the contained users and their information over the timing and their details on their Facebook account.
It is essential to keep one check inside your mind. If you are frequently changing your Facebook password and all the login details, then it is a pass from this end because it will be good for yourself to keep your profile updated. It is no secret that we lie in a generation, and an advanced lead of habit was hacking into someone else's password is nothing more than a simple task. But even though, the experts have said to keep your private profile updated all the time to keep yourself saved from the hacks.
