Facebook data leak has once again created security issues and our faith on social media. Mark Zuckerberg has had to give many explanations for the operation of Facebook for a few years now. Either because of its security problems, because of its lack of concern for it or because of its more than questionable attitude regarding the privacy of its users. A set of policies that have led the oldest of the large social networks that still exist to have a public image that is increasingly worn out.
We don’t have to go very far back in time to find the latest Facebook security incident, just a few hours ago we told you that the personal data of 533 million users of the social network have been leaked. What data? Full names and phone numbers, dates of birth, email addresses and locations, among many others. No passwords or payment details would have been leaked, which may seem reassuring, but we’re actually talking about personal contact information. And what we did not imagine was that, among those affected, is Mark Zuckerberg himself.
The discovery was made by Dave Walker, a cybersecurity expert who, after obtaining the leaked data, has analyzed it and found the data of Mark Zuckerberg, as indicated in this tweet. Among them is their phone number, although Dave has been kind enough to partially cover it, which is already more than we can say that Facebook has done with the data of the 533 million people affected by a new leak, which is adds to an already very long and disturbing history.
Most likely, as a result of this leak, Mark Zuckerberg has received and / or will receive some unexpected calls, whether from affected users, from pranksters who have seen a golden opportunity, from Facebook detractors and even, as Walker comically posits in his tweet, from journalists wanting to get some statement from Zuckerberg on this latest social network security issue that has made him a billionaire.
The problem, the real problem, is that despite the fact that Mark Zuckerberg’s personal phone has been leaked, which is fine so that he can put a little bit in the shoes of Facebook users, is that he will probably change his number quickly (if it has not already done so, since the data was exfiltered in early 2020), but surely some of the people affected do not have the same margin of movement, and that both their addresses and phone numbers seen exposed can pose a significant security problem.
I am thinking, for example, of fraud related to pension collections, of people who suffer cyberbullying and stalking, of people with a certain level of public recognition… there are many and very harmful uses that can be made of this information. Perhaps, if Mark Zuckerberg suffers the consequences of his own service problems, he will do something for real to prevent this from happening again. Of course, you can always change your phone number and keep looking the other way, that technique seems to control you perfectly.