Critics blame Facebook, CEO for breach

Analysts warn of pattern of mismanagement

SAN FRANCISCO – Mark Zuckerberg is facing a major public reckoning following the massive Facebook data breach as a cascade of crises catch up with the social media giant. This isn’t the first time the Facebook CEO’s leadership has been questioned, but the ever-growing list of problems – Cambridge Analytica, Russian election interference, the spread of disinformation – is prompting tough new scrutiny of Zuckerberg’s leadership and his management team. Attackers exploited three flaws in Facebook’s code to break into tens of millions of personal accounts. “The hack is just another symptom of a bigger problem, which is that the company is not well managed,” Pivotal Research Group analyst Brian Wieser told USA TODAY. Facebook’s popularity and profitability have deflected concerns in the past, but its track record over the past two years should concern investors, analysts are warning. On Tuesday, the company’s resilient stock was down for the second consecutive day since the breach was disclosed. “The Facebook board has to get to the bottom of why these systemic problems keep happening. Is it Mark Zuckerberg’s responsibility? If so, he might not be the right person to be CEO of the company. Is it Sheryl Sandberg’s responsibility? In which case, she might not be the right person to be COO,” he said. Facebook declined to comment. Facebook’s latest bad news – the largest hack in its 14-year history – compromised the data of nearly 50 million accounts and exposed the data of 40 million more. Details about the attack are still sparse. Facebook says it doesn’t yet know who was behind the attack and has released few details on who was affected or what data was stolen. Also unclear is whether the hackers used the access they gained to millions of Facebook accounts to get into the thousands of other services such as Tinder and Pinterest that take Facebook credentials. As politicians and regulators demand investigations, analysts are sounding alarms. “We see this recent security problem adding to already significant concerns about the company and its management,” CFRA analyst Scott Kessler wrote in a research note Monday. So far the Facebook hack has not touched the same kind of nerve that this year’s disclosed leak of personal information to Donald Trump-connected political targeting firm Cambridge Analytica did, but that could change. Facebook revealed the latest data breach late on a Friday as the nation was transfixed by Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh’s contentious Senate confirmation hearing. The main question facing regulators: Did Facebook do enough to safeguard its more than 2 billion users’ data before the hack? Zuckerberg, whose personal account was also breached, said last week that Facebook is boosting spending on security staff and technology, areas it already invested heavily in. “The reality here is we face constant attacks from people who want to take over accounts or steal information,” Zuckerberg told reporters Friday. Facebook’s global head of marketing, Carolyn Everson, said Monday the data breach was the result of a “sophisticated attack.”

Mark Zuckerberg