Facebook hit by a massive spam attack; more than 60 lakh accounts hacked

By Kul Bhushan | Updated on 16-Nov-2011

16-Nov-2011

A massive spam attack has hit Facebook, causing significant problems for the social networking site. Facebook accounts are being flooded with graphic images of violence and pornography. According to reports, more than two lakhs Facebook accounts from Bangalore have been attacked. A number of users have complained that their profile pictures have been put on porn sites. Globally, more than 60 lakh Facebook accounts have been reportedly hacked since Sunday night.

The virus, rapidly spreading across the social network, has flooded accounts with gruesome images of hardcore porn and violence. Facebook has also acknowledged the presence of the virus and is presently investigating the matter. The Christian Post, which first reported about the virus, says the virus and spam attacks could be the work of notorious hackers group Anonymous. The hackers group had previously pledged of launching attack on the social networking site.

Meanwhile, Facebook released a statement, accepting the existence of the virus. It said, “Protecting the people who use Facebook from spam and malicious content is a top priority for us, and we are always working to improve our systems to isolate and remove material that violates our terms. Recently, we experienced a coordinated spam attack that exploited a browser vulnerability. Our efforts have drastically limited the damage caused by this attack, and we are now in the process of investigating to identify those responsible.”

Facebook is expected to soon released a set of guidelines for users, whose accounts had been hacked or wanted to secure their accounts. The official Facebook security blog page says, “Security and safety are at the core of Facebook. We have entire teams dedicated to building tools that give people even more control over their account, and specifically the way they access their information. In fact, many of our most talented engineers are working exclusively on creating a secure environment on Facebook.”

The privacy breach is certainly a serious jolt to Facebook, which claims of having more than 750 million users. Facebook has previously said that it has been consistently attacked by spammers and hackers. However, the social networking site should do more to prevent such attacks in order to sustain its popularity.

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