The Social network giant Facebook has always announced to its users that the data they provide is protected and secure, not being sold or accessed by third parties at any time. However, recently, a team of security researchers have discovered a new security flaw that let advertisers get your phone number from Facebook.
Facebook Bug Could Let Advertisers Get Your Phone Number
Messenger is increasingly used as a means of communication between people and groups of people. This application is associated with the social network giant Facebook’s personal profile and therefore it is not recommended for children under 13 years of age.
Thinking about the younger audience, recently, we saw that the social network giant recently launched Messenger Kids, a messaging application for children that allows parents to control it.
The Social network giant Facebook has always announced to its users that the data they provide is protected and secure, not being sold or accessed by third parties at any time.
But, the truth is that the company, of course, the social network giant Facebook tries at all costs to keep these data secret, but there are flaws. A new one, reported and even corrected, gave users’ phone numbers access to everyone who advertises on social network giant Facebook.
Many are those who refuse to put their phone number on the social network giant Facebook because they believe that this information may be used for unauthorized purposes. The largest social network on the planet, of course, Facebook has always argued that this element increases the security of accounts.
Contrary to this idea, and even to defend those who reject the sharing of the phone number, is now the information that the social network giant Facebook had an accessible failure and that allowed all who advertise on this network to access the phone number of the users.
It was not a simple flaw to exploit, as it required a list of the email addresses of the users whose phone numbers they wanted to retrieve. Then, using the Custom Audiences platform from Facebook, it was possible to obtain this data after a few iterations.
A second vulnerability was shown, which allowed for obtaining the same data, but in a simpler way. Access to a particular site was limited, with code to track users, and subsequently, this data was available.
The team of researchers who discovered the crash was rewarded by the social network giant Facebook with a prize of $5,000. Moreover, the social network giant Facebook corrected the issue in December, which is being prepared to be presented in detail in May this year at a security conference.
This is another case that reinforces the need to protect the data of the users of the different services. With some work, and using information from these networks and services, it is simple to get more data than expected, and then you can do a lot with it.
So, what do you think about these severe security flaws? Simply share all your views and thoughts in the comment section below.