Data Exposed on Amazon Cloud Service: Facebook Has Messed Up Again
Facebook is in trouble again.
By Anas Baig
Facebook, the world's most popular social media platform, is again in trouble. The third-party Facebook app developers have uploaded the personal information of millions of Facebook users on publicly accessed cloud servers. The data which was meant to be protected was available for easier access for anyone searching the web.
This major data breach was uncovered by a cyber-security research firm UpGuard. According to the researchers of UpGuard, they have found the data of millions of Facebook users online that have been uploaded by a Mexican social media company known as Cultura Colectiva. The data included usernames, IDs, and activities of users on the platform and that too in the plain sight.
The personal data of Facebook users including their identities and personal photos were also found on another Mexico-based app, the Pool. This app was created for the sole purpose of helping people to meet with each other and is no more functional since 2014.
After the confirmation of data breach by the Mexican sites, UpGuard has sent notifications to both Cultura Colectiva as well as Amazon about the violations of data privacy. The notice was sent earlier in January but no action was taken by the said platforms after which the security team contacted Facebook on Wednesday.
As soon as Facebook was contacted about the violation, all the data on Amazon was secured instantly while the data on the Pool went offline silently. Though Facebook has taken immediate action it is still uncertain how many people have already accessed the information from cloud servers and how much of the data is used illegally.
This is not the first time Facebook is held guilty of handing over the data to third-party app developers. There were several instances in the past when Facebook data was found with various researchers and advertisers. Facebook is already under constant criticism since the 2016 election when the data of approx. 87 million Facebook users were accessed by Cambridge Analytica for Trump Election Campaign and this present major data breach by Mexico-based social media sites has further worsened the situation.
Facebook has recently revised its data protection policies and has assured that there will be no transition of users' data to any third party. They claim that they strongly prohibit the storing of Facebook data on any public platform and have taken immediate action when it came to their notice. But whether it is a mistake or intentional breach, this major data breach has made every Facebook user concerned about their data protection and social media security.
According to UpGuard, Facebook seems to be incompetent in controlling its vast network and needs to take some serious security measures for the protection of its users` data from any leakage and unauthorized use. People all over the world are curious about what will be the stance of the app developer over the situation? Whether they will be able to defend themselves? What is the future of Facebook?
Anas Baig is a Security Journalist covers most of the Cyber Security & Tech news. He is a security professional and writer specializing in Science and Technology, with a passion for dinosaurs, archaeology, robots, cars and animals great and small.