Facebook Says 50 Million Accounts May Have Been Breached in New Attack
*By Carlo Versano*
Facebook shares dropped Friday afternoon after the company announced that 50 million accounts may have been compromised by hackers exploiting a security vulnerability.
Guy Rosen, the company's VP of product management, said the breach was discovered on Tuesday and affected its "View As" feature, which allows people to see what their own profile looks like to someone else. Rosen said the vulnerability has been patched.
"We’re taking this incredibly seriously and wanted to let everyone know what’s happened and the immediate action we’ve taken to protect people’s security," Rosen, wrote in a [blog post](https://newsroom.fb.com/news/2018/09/security-update/) on Friday.
Facebook ($FB) discovered that unknown attackers manipulated a piece of code that allowed them to steal security tokens that usually keep accounts logged in.
The post was light on detail and was seemingly intended to show the company's efforts at transparency, just months after it was pilloried for a mishandling of the Cambridge Analytica breach.
After that scandal, CEO Mark Zuckerberg [said](https://m.facebook.com/zuck/posts/10104712037900071) in a Facebook post, "We have a responsibility to protect your data, and if we can't, then we don't deserve to serve you."
Hackers have broken into a Washington, D.C. health insurance marketplace and stolen sensitive personal data including Social Security numbers and home addresses of members of Congress, their employees and family members.
Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell suffered a concussion after a fall at a local hotel and remains hospitalized “for a few days of observation and treatment,” a spokesman said Thursday.
Norfolk Southern's CEO is apologizing to Congress on Thursday and pledging millions of dollars to help East Palestine, Ohio, recover from the fiery hazardous materials train derailment as senators investigate.
The RESTRICT Act seeks to proactively tackle dangerous technology, including TikTok, according to a bipartisan group of senators that includes Mark Warner (D-Va.).
