Just days after CEO Mark Zuckerberg said Facebook is transforming into a more privacy-friendly company, cybersecurity firm Imperva has released details about a Facebook Messenger bug that allows hackers to see who you're talking to on the popular messaging app.
The bug was discovered last year and exposed who you were chatting with. The bug didn't show the content of the messages exchanged, but simply knew who you were in contact with. This raises new questions about the privacy risks a user faces on Facebook.
Ron Maass, the security researcher who discovered the bug, said: “It could be sent to high-profile targets to understand who was chatting with whom.”.
The browser that Facebook used, iFrames could collect information such as access to likes, location history and interests of Facebook users. Hackers could embed content into ads and web pages, giving users the opportunity to click on a malicious link. This redirects users to infected pages where the attacker asks to see the contacts of its sender on Facebook.
Facebook said on Thursday that it has taken care of the issue, completely removing the iFrames element from the messenger app.
In a similar bug last November, hackers could see private posts you liked and what your friends liked.
These reports come just as Mark Zuckerberg promised increased privacy on Facebook following multiple data breach scandals, which began with Cambridge Analytica. Zuckerberg said yesterday that Facebook would focus on encryption and messages would be automatically deleted after a certain period of time.
