SAN FRANCISCO — Facebook officials on Friday said an attack on the social media giant’s computer network exposed information from nearly 50 million users, according to a New York Times report.
The breach, discovered earlier this week, involved attackers that exploited a feature in Facebook’s code that allowed a takeover of user accounts. The vulnerability has been fixed and law enforcement officials were immediately notified, the company said.
On Friday, more than 90 million Facebook users were forced to log out of their accounts as a safety measure. The origin and identity of the attackers is not yet known, nor is the full scope of the attack. The investigation is underway and is in the beginning stages, officials said.
The discovery comes at a pivotal time for Facebook, which has dealt with blowback from its role in a widespread Russian disinformation campaign in 2016. And Facebook is already under scrutiny and facing multiple Federal investigations into the company’s broader data sharing and privacy practices. The Securities and Exchange Commission has opened an investigation into Facebook’s statements on Cambridge Analytica.
