More Bad News on Facebook Data Breach

Facebook has reported that the recent hacking of its systems affected 30 million users rather than the 50 million previously thought, but also that the information taken was more personal and potentially damaging.

Around fourteen million users had detailed information stolen, according to the social network, including the last fifteen things / people searched for on Facebook and the last ten physical locations 'checked into'; plus gender, religion, 'phone number, email and devices used. A further fifteen million had names and contact information such as 'phone numbers taken.

Hackers used a flaw in the network's 'View As' feature - which was built to give users more control over their privacy - to steal digital 'tokens' giving access to accounts. Facebook plugged the hole about a week after first becoming suspicious due to high levels of 'View As' activity.

Experts suggest the details will be used to launch other attacks such as phishing. According to a report on www.livemint.com . Guy Rosen, Facebook's VP of Product Management, said in a blog post on Friday that the company had been 'working around the clock to investigate the security issue we discovered and fixed two weeks ago so we can help people understand what information the attackers may have accessed'.

The company has not answered questions on who might be behind the attach or how it thinks data might be used. Its engineers are said to be working closely with the FBI, which has requested it not to share further details so as not to compromise the investigation.