Facebook says it was hacked, blaming a “sophisticated” attack last month for the breach.
As Facebook says it was hacked, it is the second time in recent weeks a massive social network has proactively admitted a breach of security deemed to be well above standard hacker par by the entity.
(Last month, before Facebook says it was hacked, Twitter also revealed that a Java exploit led to the leak of user data for 250,000 of its millions of registered users.)
Facebook revealed it was hacked in a note posted to the social network’s security blog today, titled “Protecting People On Facebook.” Added late Friday night to the site (the traditional timing for a press release companies are not pleased to have to distribute), the post explains how Facebook was hacked via malware and that no known breachers of user security were believed to have occurred:
“Last month, Facebook Security discovered that our systems had been targeted in a sophisticated attack. This attack occurred when a handful of employees visited a mobile developer website that was compromised. The compromised website hosted an exploit which then allowed malware to be installed on these employee laptops.”
The post continues:
“The laptops were fully-patched and running up-to-date anti-virus software. As soon as we discovered the presence of the malware, we remediated all infected machines, informed law enforcement, and began a significant investigation that continues to this day … We have found no evidence that Facebook user data was compromised.“
While Facebook says it was hacked and that the breach was discovered, there is not definitive confirmation user data was not leaked in the attack — a slightly worrisome admission considering the breadth of Facebook’s reach across the social web.
Facebook adds:
“Facebook was not alone in this attack. It is clear that others were attacked and infiltrated recently as well. As one of the first companies to discover this malware, we immediately took steps to start sharing details about the infiltration with the other companies and entities that were affected. We plan to continue collaborating on this incident through an informal working group and other means.”
As Facebook says it was hacked, no additional information was disclosed regarding whether more details would be released.
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