In recent years especially, Facebook has been marred in criticism, controversy, and legal battles as the social media empire has been found time and again to be involved in both allowance and instigation of cyber crimes. The platform has exceedingly come under fire from the media and from the public for what has been perceived and understood as rapidly uncommon and unethical practices. Whether it is targeted ads, perceived listening in, or data collection (to name a few examples) Facebook has done it all. As a result, the social media empire - and its CEO, Mark Zuckerberg - has found itself facing legal issues for years now.
This week, the latest wave in Facebook cyber crime has been uncovered, as data from more than half a billion users on the social media platform has been discovered and made available on a website that is renowned for being utilised by hackers around the globe. While the information uncovered is thought to be years old at this point, it also presents yet another example of how Facebook is collecting information from its users - as well as just how unsecure the information users put on their own social media pages (seemingly private or not) truly is.
With sensitive information from more than a hundred different countries, the information includes (but is not limited to) Facebook IDS, full names, phone numbers, birthdays, emails, and even the locations of the users themselves. This latest finding in the ongoing cybercrime issues that have plagued Facebook for years now is a strong indication of the fact that this is an issue that Facebook is obviously not working hard enough to eradicate - and if by some chance they are, that they are not doing it quickly enough.
This social media empire might have survived so far, however if this concerning (to say the least) trend continues on into the future and beyond for much longer, there is every chance that the social media empire will be run into the ground with legal fees that bury it well beyond the point of return. And that is just the tip of the iceberg. Facebook is just one company that has found itself dealing with cybercrime lawsuits and even hiring an employment lawyer as its own employees have come forward to blow the lid on its unethical practices over the years (and especially in recent years).
This latest finding of cybercrime in and around Facebook is just the latest discovery in the ongoing saga that continues to envelope and threaten Facebook from the inside out. Watch this space.