[Asia Economy Reporter Byunghee Park] Personal information, including phone numbers of more than 533 million Facebook users, was leaked on a hacking online bulletin board, major foreign media reported on the 3rd (local time).
This personal information belongs to Facebook users from 106 countries worldwide and includes phone numbers, Facebook IDs, names, residences, birthdays, work histories, and email addresses.
Allen Gall, co-founder and Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of Israeli cybercrime intelligence firm Hudson Rock, said the database appears to be the same Facebook-related phone numbers that have been circulating among hackers since January this year.
Facebook stated in a press release that this data is "very old" and is related to a security vulnerability that was fixed in August 2019.
CTO Gall warned that even though the data is several years old, the leaked information could be useful to cybercriminals attempting to impersonate others or steal login credentials using personal information. He said that since the information has already been leaked, there is little Facebook can do from a security standpoint, but Facebook can notify users to be cautious of potential phishing or scams.
In 2016, ahead of the U.S. presidential election, British political consulting firm Cambridge Analytica collected data from 80 million Facebook users for political advertising, which later caused a major controversy when it was revealed.
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