Facebook caught in fresh security woes

“MARRIAGES ( could be) broken,” friendships ended, and business deals compromised as part of Facebook’s latest security scandal that exposed the private messages and photos of up to 90 million Facebook users.

Security experts warned the hackers could use the stolen information to blackmail the multibillion- dollar social net- work and, if unsuccessful, would likely “dump the data” on internet forums for anyone to read, in an act that could resemble the destructive Ashley Madison adultery scandal.

The warning came in addition to revelations thirdparty accounts using Facebook, such as Airbnb and Instagram, may also have been compromised in the breach, and as the social network faced fines of up to $ US1.63 billion under strict new European Union privacy laws.

Facebook confirmed more than 50 million users had their accounts compromised by unknown hackers on Saturday, though an additional 40 million users may be affected.

Hackers gained access to Facebook using three security flaws linked to its “View As” feature.

Facebook product management vice- president Guy Rosen said it was not known for how long hackers had accessed the data or what information they had stolen.

“Our investigation is still very early so we don’t yet know exactly the scope of the misuse and how, and if, accounts were actually misused,” he said.

Bitdefender senior security analyst Bogdan Botezatu said the hackers could easily have gone unnoticed in Facebook’s system for months.