Another one?
It is as if the Cambridge Analytica, and the previous Facebook bug or vulnerability was not enough of a problem for the Social Media giant. Facebook now faces another controversy where it had exposed its latest security breach.
What was the security breach? Who were affected?
The security breach where the platform accidentally stored a copy of passwords for “hundreds of millions” users in plaintext. Was it just the Facebook platform? Not really, according to our sources even Instagram users are affected since it is also managed by Facebook which makes sense.
What does it mean to FB and IG users?
It just means that internal employees, most likely Facebook Engineers were able to see these passwords with their naked eyes. Therefore the passwords were only leaked internally. Facebook assured that these passwords did not leak outside the organization.
More details on the breach
The social media company did not disclose the exact component or application on its website that had the programmatic mistake which caused the issue, however they did disclose that they discovered the security flaw in January this year through their routine security check
Was there any alarming danger?
Facebook clarified that the passwords were not exposed outside. But to be sure the company has recommended some precautions.
Was it Facebook alone?
According to our Brand Monitoring team, it was not merely Facebook who had a similar issue on storing passwords in plain text format. Other known platforms such as Twitter did suffer that lapse in which almost 330 million users were affected, similarly only affected Twitter internally.
What are the precautions?
Enable two-factor authentications for both Facebook, and Instagram accounts. Also there is a login alert feature to add an extra layer of security to your accounts, not only on Facebook, but also on other similar platforms.
One can use a secure VPN connection before accessing a social media account. Consider using a password manager software too.
