The “Have I been Pwned” data breach notification service can now be used to verify if your personal information was exposed in yesterday’s Facebook data breach. The Facebook leak includes the data of 533 Million Facebook users which is on the hacker forum. It includes a mobile phone number, name, gender, location, marital status, occupation, date of birth, and email address.
This data was originally used in 2019 to add the “friends” feature on Facebook. Facebook closed the vulnerability shortly after discovering it. But threat actors continued to distribute the data until yesterday the vulnerability was finally released for almost free ($ 2.19).
How to check whether Your Data Was Exposed?
It is the responsibility of the companies to let the users know when data is leaked. But these disclosures are generally made through vague public statements, and individual consumers can be kept in the dark. Fortunately, security researchers keep a detailed record of past data points. It can be used to verify if the Facebook leak affected you.
I’ve had a heap of queries about this. I’m looking into it and yes, if it’s legit and suitable for @haveibeenpwned it’ll be searchable there shortly. https://t.co/QPLZdXATpt
— Troy Hunt (@troyhunt) April 3, 2021
A security analyst Troy Hunt has designed a database HaveIBeenPwned. You can enter your email address and check it against more than 10 billion accounts that have been compromised in a Facebook data breach. you can determine if you have been “fake” or compromised. If you want to check about your password got affected in the Facebook data breach or not. The Hunt website also has a password check option. It enables the user to check if their password is ever fallen into the hands of cheaters or hackers.
If your data is affected by the Facebook leak, Make sure to secure your account:
If you find out that your personal data has been stolen in the Facebook leak, it’s time to protect it. This depends on the severity of the stolen data. If your social security number or driver’s license number is stolen, you will need to submit a report to the appropriate government agency. But in most cases, data breaches like Facebook leaks usually include less sensitive information such as email addresses and usernames. If your email address is public, you must change your password to that email account and configure multi-factor authentication to protect your email.
If you discover that your password is public, you should change the passwords for all affected accounts immediately. Set a long password with 2-factor authentication to secure your information from Fcebook leak. Finally, keep an eye out for any suspicious activity on any of your accounts. If you detect suspicious activity, change your password and contact your account administrator.
