Facebook: 90 Million Accounts Could Be At Risk From Hackers

<p>Facebook says it recently discovered a security breach affecting nearly 50 million user accounts.&nbsp;</p>

Friday, September 28th 2018, 1:00 pm

By: News 9


Facebook said 50 million user accounts are impacted by a security flaw that allowed attackers to steal access tokens, allowing them to take over user accounts. 

The company said it reset the access tokens of the 50 million accounts that were affected by the attack, but that it is taking a "precautionary step" of resetting tokens for another 40 million accounts. 

"As a result, around 90 million people will now have to log back in to Facebook, or any of their apps that use Facebook Login,"  Guy Rosen, vice president of product management, wrote in a blog post on Facebook. 

The "View As" feature allows users to see what their account looks like to other users. 

The security flaw allowed hackers "to steal Facebook access tokens which they could then use to take over people's accounts," Rosen wrote. "Access tokens are the equivalent of digital keys that keep people logged in to Facebook so they don't need to re-enter their password every time they use the app."

© 2018 CBS Interactive Inc.. All Rights Reserved.

logo

Get The Daily Update!

Be among the first to get breaking news, weather, and general news updates from News 9 delivered right to your inbox!

More Like This

September 28th, 2018

March 22nd, 2024

March 14th, 2024

February 9th, 2024

Top Headlines

March 28th, 2024

March 28th, 2024

March 28th, 2024

March 28th, 2024