Facebook: We Got Hacked, but All Data Safe

'Sophisticated attacks' follows others at Twitter, newspapers
By John Johnson,  Newser Staff
Posted Feb 15, 2013 4:35 PM CST
Facebook: We Got Hacked, but All Data Safe
File photo of a Facebook User Operations Safety Team worker at Facebook headquarters in Menlo Park, Calif.   (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma, File)

Add Facebook to the list of high-profile companies hit by hackers of late. The company said in a blog post today that it was the victim of a "sophisticated attack" last month but that no customer data was exposed, reports Ars Technica. "The attack occurred when a handful of employees visited a mobile developer website that was compromised," said the company. They ended up with malware on their laptops in what's known as a "zero-day Java exploit," an increasingly popular hack that takes advantage of the Oracle software, reports AllThingsD.

It remains unclear whether the hack is related to recent ones at Twitter, the New York Times, the Washington Post, and the Wall Street Journal. The newspapers have blamed China. Facebook says it has notified federal authorities, who are helping to investigate. "While it's good news that Facebook data appears to be safe, it's still rather worrisome for the billion-plus individuals who've entrusted many, many aspects of their lives to the service," writes Nathan Ingraham at the Verge. (More Facebook stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X