On Friday, Facebook notified users that hackers had attacked its network and accessed the personal information of nearly 50m users.
Facebook’s stock fell more than 3% when news of the breach broke, giving the giant yet another scandal to rebound from at a time when its leadership team is more fractured than ever.
Hackers love irony
The hackers sneaked behind Facebook’s security through a piece of code in the company’s “View As” feature. Ironically, the “View As” feature was rolled out in July to let users view their profile as if they were a stranger — an attempt to increase user privacy.
Although Facebook closed the loophole, it still did not know the full scope of the attack when it forced more than 90m users to log out of their accounts on Friday.
Inside and out, people are losing faith in Facebook
Facebook lost 2 important senior employees last week when Instagram’s founders abruptly resigned, and only months before WhatsApp CEO Jan Koum also left, further calling the company’s acquisition strategy into question.
Members of Congress have redoubled their criticisms of Facebook, which is still wrapped up in SEC, FBI, and FTC probes thanks to the Cambridge Analytica scandal.
But worst of all, investors also seem to be packing their bags: Stock prices fell 3.4% after the company announced the breach. Share prices are down 10.3% on the year as the company struggles to rebound.
