How to check if your Facebook account has been hacked
Between September 14-27, 30 million Facebook accounts were hacked, and now the social media juggernaut has unveiled a website that will help you determine if your account has been compromised.
“We're very sorry this happened,” it said of the incident. “Your privacy is incredibly important to us, and we want to update you on what we've learned from our ongoing investigation, including which Facebook accounts are impacted, what information was accessed and what Facebook users can do about this.”
Facebook has made a move to assure its users, which according to Statista amount to over 2.2 billion monthly active users worldwide, that sensitive information like passwords and financial information were not accessed by hackers.
“There's no need for anyone to change their passwords,” said the company.
But other information was hacked, reported 7News, such as phone numbers and email addresses, and in the case of 14 million accounts, the type of information that you can see on your friends’ accounts such as location, birthdate and relationship status.
You can find out simply if your Facebook account has been hacked. On the Facebook advice website, scroll about halfway down to the question, “Is my Facebook account impacted by this security issue?” and you’ll have a notification there, specific to your account, if you have been affected.
You’ll also be provided with account-specific information if you are logged in to Facebook.
One expert argues that in light of the hacks, Facebook should be offering users free “credit monitoring” in case sensitive financial information may be accessed.
“Those personal details could very easily be used for identity theft to sign up for credit cards, get a loan, get your banking password, et cetera,” said Patrick Moorhead, founder of Moor Insights & Strategy.
“Facebook should provide all those customers free credit monitoring to make sure the damage is minimised.”
Facebook has declined to say where the effected users are located, only saying the breaches were “fairly broad”. The company says it will contact those account holders who have been hacked.
According Facebook, the hacks are currently being investigated by the FBI, but the Bureau requested it didn’t discuss the culprits behind it.
You can find more information at the Facebook advice site.
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