This archive report was first published on 20 December 2019.
On December 20, 2019, a significant data breach was discovered by cybersecurity firm Comparitech in collaboration with security researcher Bob Diachenko.
A database containing the personal data of over 267 million Facebook users was found to be accessible online without a password for approximately two weeks.
The exposed information included users' names, Facebook IDs, and phone numbers, leaving them susceptible to hacking, texting scams, and phishing schemes.
While the origin of the database is still unknown, researchers believe it could be linked to a criminal network in Vietnam.
Facebook has faced criticism in the past for its perceived lax security protocols, including the Cambridge Analytica scandal, where the company was accused of mining Kenyan voters' data to influence the 2017 presidential election.
As celebrated journalist Larry Madowo noted, 'Facebook, Twitter, Google and other technology companies that facilitate or amplify work by outfits such as Cambridge Analytica are complicit in poisoning democracies around the world.'
