Cybersecurity Expert Adam Levin Says Facebook Hack That Affected 50 Million Users Shows That a Patch and Pray Approach to Cybersecurity Does Not Work and Consumers Pay the Price
A hacker gained access to nearly 50 million Facebook user accounts by exploiting a weakness in the social network's systems, Facebook said on Friday.
The hacker exploited a security flaw to take over users' accounts. The flaw was related to the "View As" feature that lets people see what their own profile looks like through the eyes of another user. This allowed hackers to steal Facebook access tokens or "digital keys" which allowed them to gain unauthorized access to users accounts.
Adam Levin, Founder of CyberScout and author of "Swiped" says "Facebook has had a hard year, and it just got worse. In a world dominated by trillion-dollar advertising platforms consisting of multi-billion member communities, 50 million users may no longer seem like a big deal, but it is. The number of people affected by this breach is roughly equal to the entire population of the west coast of the United States. Just because you are secure at 9:01 does not mean that will still be the case at 9:02. The latest Facebook breach was caused by an upgrade. The takeaway is simple: Any changes made to networks, software and other systems must be immediately and continually tested and monitored for vulnerabilities that may have been caused in the process. The traditional "patch and pray" approach to cybersecurity is obsolete. An effective vulnerability management program is crucial. "
ADAM LEVIN
Adam K. Levin is a consumer advocate with more than 30 years of experience and is a nationally recognized expert on cybersecurity, privacy, identity theft, fraud, and personal finance. A former Director of the New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs, Mr. Levin is Chairman and founder ofCyberScout and co-founder of Credit.com. Adam Levin is the author of Amazon Best Selling Book Swiped: How to Protect Yourself in a World Full of Scammers, Phishers and Identity Thieves.
