Over 110,000 Australians affected by cyberattack on Facebook last September

• The hackers had gained access to a variety of data that includes the users’ movements, hometown, search history, email addresses and phone numbers.
• The attack occurred due to three flaws in the website.

The massive Facebook cyberattack that occurred last year, has affected more than 110,000 Australians. The attack had affected roughly 29 million individuals worldwide.

The big picture - Internal documents from Freedom of Information Laws reveal that a total of 111,813 Australians were affected in the attack on Facebook in September, 2019. The hackers had gained access to a variety of data that includes the users’ movements, hometown, search history, email addresses and phone numbers.

About 47,912 had only their basic personal information compromised. This includes their names, emails and phone numbers. On their hand, some 62,360 users had their hometown, most recent check-ins, birth dates, education, work history, Facebook search history, names, email addresses, phone numbers, gender, relationship status and religion compromised.

Apart from this data, hackers also gained private Facebook messenger conversations of 1,595 users.

Why it matters - According to the correspondence, Facebook discovered the breach on September 25, 2018, but did not notify the OAIC on time. The firm only informed the agency after four days of the discovery of the incident. The attack occurred due to three flaws in the website. This allowed the attackers to sneak into a user’s Facebook page without entering the password.

Based upon what we’ve learned so far in our investigation, the attackers did not gain access to other personal information such as password information, identity documentation, financial information or payment card information,” the incident update said, the Guardian reported.

Facebook has informed all the affected Australian users about the breach.