If You’re A Facebook Frequenter, Make Sure Your Info Is Safe

Here's just another reason why you should be extra cautious when surfing the web. According to a story reported by CNN, cybersecurity experts say that the personal info, including their phone numbers, of a half-billion Facebook users, has been posted to a website used by hackers.

Founder and former CEO of LockerGnome, Inc., Chris Pirillo once said, "Passwords are like underwear: don't let people see it, change it very often, and don't share it with strangers." How very true.

The CEO of one cyber intelligence firm says there are records for more than 32 million accounts in the United States. Plus, millions more from the United Kingdom and India.

In some cases, details include full name, location, email address, phone number, and relationship status. Scary stuff which leads to scary thoughts, Imagine what cybercriminals can do with all that information on you.

Insider, a major news website, first reported the leak.

According to CNN, a Facebook spokesperson told them that this was old data that was previously reported on back in 2019. The spokesperson also said that they found and fixed the issue back in 2019.

Facebook did not make it clear if they notified affected users at that time.

The bottom line, according to the experts, is that even though this data is from 2019, it could still be of great value to cybercriminals.

Alon Gal, CTO of cyber intelligence firm Hudson Rock, told CNN that the way the data was posted on the hacking site this week makes it much more accessible for hackers to exploit.