Facebook has confirmed in a security update that a total of 30 million accounts had been hacked through the abuse of three bugs that provided ‘access tokens’ to users, thereby requiring no password to gain access of the account. The confirmed number is lower than the initially reported 50 million accounts that were at risk.
All users who were affected had so far been logged out of their accounts as a security measure. To learn if your account has been compromised, you may check this security notice: Facebook Security Notice
PHOTO CAPTION: If you manage to locate this notification at the bottom of the link above, it means that your account remains protected.
“We’re very sorry this happened. Your privacy is incredibly important to us, and we want to update you on what we’ve learned from our ongoing investigation, including which Facebook accounts are impacted, what information was accessed and what Facebook users can do about this.”
Facebook has invalidated the use of over 90 million access tokens to secure the accounts of both affected and non-affected accounts as an advanced precautionary measure as a response to the cyber attack. “There’s no need for anyone to change their passwords,” adds the social media giant. Those who have troubles accessing their account are advised to follow these steps to regain access.
As of press time, Facebook’s investigation is still ongoing.
