Facebook says it stored ‘millions’ of unencrypted Instagram passwords

Author: AFP
Facebook says it stored “millions” of unencrypted Instagram passwords on internal servers

“Millions” of Instagram users had their passwords stored in unencrypted form on internal servers, Facebook said Thursday, raising its original estimate of tens of thousands.

“We discovered additional logs of Instagram passwords being stored in a readable format. We now estimate that this issue impacted millions of Instagram users,” Facebook said in a blog post.

“We will be notifying these users as we did the others. Our investigation has determined that these stored passwords were not internally abused or improperly accessed,” the social network said.

Facebook, Instagram’s parent company, revealed last month that the unencrypted passwords of hundreds of millions of users had been stored, putting the number of Instagram users affected in the tens of thousands.

The social network’s handling of user data has been a flashpoint for controversy since it admitted last year that Cambridge Analytica, a political consultancy, used an app that may have hijacked the private details of 87 million users.

Facebook has announced a series of moves to tighten handling of data, including eliminating most of its data-sharing partnerships with outside companies.

The California firm reaches an estimated 2.7 billion people with its core social network, Instagram and messaging applications.

Share
Leave a Comment

Recent Posts

  • Blogs

Reimagining Pakistan’s Education System

In the words of Allama Iqbal, "Power is more divine than the truth." Yet, for…

7 hours ago
  • Op-Ed

Cometh the Impasse, Cometh the Man

For the era of distressed tidings around us and the associated stalemate, no one quote…

9 hours ago
  • Op-Ed

Burning Kashmir

India's consistent betrayal of promises to Kashmiris and blatant disregard for UNSC Resolutions on J&K…

11 hours ago
  • Health

Climate emergency is a health emergency, UK veteran doctor says

  ISLAMABAD/LONDON: One of Britain’s senior most and respected Consultant Paediatrician, Professor Abdul Rashid Gatrad…

11 hours ago
  • Op-Ed

Is India a Threat to Global Stability?

  Recently, the US has imposed sanctions on many corporations. Three of the 12 companies…

12 hours ago
  • Music

COKE STUDIO SEASON 15 RELEASES “CHAL CHALIYE”

Coke Studio releases the sixthsong from Season 15, Chal Chaliye, bringing the inimitable vocals of…

1 day ago