Facebook still unsure what information was accessed in data hack
Facebook officials said on Friday that understanding the scope of an attack that affected nearly 50 million users is "challenging", adding that the investigation into which data was accessed and how it was used is still in the early stages.
During a call with reporters, Facebook’s Vice President of product management Guy Rosen and head of cyber security policy Nathaniel Gleicher could not confirm if user's personal information -- like private messages or photos -- had been accessed in the widespread breach.
The company disclosed on Friday that it had uncovered a security issue in which attacks stoler Facebook access tokens through its “view as” features. The attacks could then use these tokens to take over other people’s accounts.
The officials said they could also not confirm if they would be able to notify individual users what personal information had been accessed by outside attackers.
Facebook says that because they responded so quickly to the threat, notified authorities and looped in users early on in the process, the details are still developing.
According to officials, the social media giant has been unable to identify if there was one attacker or multiple attackers behind the breach. Where the attacks originated, Facebook said, is “very broad.” Facebook has not confirmed if a nation state was behind these attacks.
While officials said they don’t know who was behind the attacks, the company said it's scale is what initially raised red flags to its security team. When their employees spotted an unusual spike in activity, they looked further into the suspicious traffic and discovered the breach.