267 million names, phone numbers leaked from FacebookDecember 20, 2019 - 17:41 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - If you start receiving more telemarketing calls, you can blame Facebook. Recently, a security researcher named Bob Diachenko found a database of user account info including their name and phone numbers for 267 million Facebook users. It was available in an unprotected format and copied to other hacker forums, Forbes reports. Reports indicate that this presents a treasure trove of data for telemarketers and spam purveyors because the data looks legitimate and comes from the social network itself, not from an untrusted source. (In some cases, leaked data that is old and outdated doesn’t help would-be scammers because the names and numbers are incorrect.) Having this data means scammers can start new phishing scams and correlate the data from the phone records to Facebook user profiles. The analyst says the data was potentially compromised through an API that gives developers access to back-end data, such as friend lists, groups, and photos. He says at one time it was likely a protected, private database even on hacker forums, but was set to public and was readily available to anyone for about two weeks. Hackers routinely download user information like this or purchase it on the Dark Web, but the difference with this data is that it has some authenticity since it also contains Facebook user information. And, because it contains phone numbers, it means hackers might be able to set up more sophisticated attacks that could include both a phone scam and an email scam. Top stories Yerevan will host the 2024 edition of the World Congress On Information Technology (WCIT). Rustam Badasyan said due to the lack of such regulation, the state budget is deprived of VAT revenues. Krisp’s smart noise suppression tech silences ambient sounds and isolates your voice for calls. Gurgen Khachatryan claimed that the "illegalities have been taking place in 2020." Partner news Most popular in the section | Titus, Bilirakis lead legislation to sanction Azerbaijani war criminals Representatives Dina Titus (D-NV) and Gus Bilirakis (R-FL) have introduced the bipartisan legislation. Azerbaijan must respect human rights, Scholz tells Aliyev German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has called for greater respect for human rights in Azerbaijan. Armenia: Defense Ministry warns against involving army in political processes The Ministry’s statement came after a video surfaced online, showing soldiers joining the protests in Tavush. Scholz hopes Armenia-Azerbaijan peace treaty will be signed this year German Chancellor Olaf Scholz hopes that a peace treaty between Armenia and Azerbaijan will be signed this year. |