In what could be one of the largest data breaches in social media history, a hacker going by the alias “ByteBreaker” has claimed to have scraped and leaked personal data from approximately 1.2 billion Facebook user accounts. The data is reportedly being offered for sale on the dark web, raising serious concerns about user privacy and security.
The compromised information allegedly includes sensitive details such as user IDs, names, email addresses, phone numbers, birthdates, gender, and location data including city, state, and country. Cybersecurity experts who analyzed a sample of the leaked data have confirmed the authenticity of the records, highlighting the scale of the breach.
Meta, the parent company of Facebook, acknowledged the incident but stated that this was not a new claim, asserting that the company had disclosed the vulnerability years ago and implemented measures to prevent similar breaches. However, the hacker’s assertion that the data was recently scraped has raised questions about possible new security flaws.
If verified, this breach would surpass the 2021 Facebook leak, which exposed data of 533 million users. The sheer volume of exposed information has prompted cybersecurity professionals to warn users to take precautionary measures, including changing passwords, enabling two-factor authentication, and being vigilant against phishing scams.
Facebook users are advised to regularly review their privacy settings and monitor their accounts for any suspicious activity.
The incident once again underscores the growing challenges faced by social media platforms in safeguarding user data in an era of increasing cyber threats.
