07 December 2011
It appears that not even the man who created Facebook is immune to the social network's increasingly infamous security issues.
Instructions on how to circumvent Facebook's privacy settings have been floating around cyberspace for a couple of weeks. However, the security glitch has now come to wider attention as images from Facebook head honcho Mark Zuckerberg's private photo albums were released to the world.
Users discovered after reporting a public profile picture as containing inappropriate content they were offered the chance to report additional photographs by the same user.
Facebook then presented them with a thumbnail gallery of private images that otherwise would have been invisible to the person making the complaint. Those pictures could easily be enlarged by making a simple change in the browser address bar and downloaded.
By using this method, anonymous intruders were able to access private photos of Zuckerberg, his girlfriend Priscilla Chan and their puppy, Beast. Fourteen candid images were published on the image site Imgur under the headline: "It's time to fix those security flaws Facebook."
Facebook has now issued a fix for the loophole. In a statement, the social network said: "Earlier today, we discovered a bug in one of our reporting flows that allows people to report multiple instances of inappropriate content simultaneously.
"The bug allowed anyone to view a limited number of another user's most recently uploaded photos irrespective of the privacy setting for these photos.
"This was a result of one our recent code pushes and was live for a limited period of time. Upon discovering the bug, we immediately disabled the system, and will only return functionality once we can confirm the bug has been fixed."
This incident comes shortly on the heels of the U.S. Federal Trade Commission's investigation into Facebook's privacy settings and alleged deceptive practices. The social network has agreed to external inspections of its privacy settings, along with fines of $16,000 (£10,250) per day for new violations.
Facebook's photo fail
It appears that not even the man who created Facebook is immune to the social network's increasingly infamous security issues.Instructions on how to circumvent Facebook's privacy settings have been floating around cyberspace for a couple of weeks. However, the security glitch has now come to wider attention as images from Facebook head honcho Mark Zuckerberg's private photo albums were released to the world.
Users discovered after reporting a public profile picture as containing inappropriate content they were offered the chance to report additional photographs by the same user.
Facebook then presented them with a thumbnail gallery of private images that otherwise would have been invisible to the person making the complaint. Those pictures could easily be enlarged by making a simple change in the browser address bar and downloaded.
By using this method, anonymous intruders were able to access private photos of Zuckerberg, his girlfriend Priscilla Chan and their puppy, Beast. Fourteen candid images were published on the image site Imgur under the headline: "It's time to fix those security flaws Facebook."
Facebook has now issued a fix for the loophole. In a statement, the social network said: "Earlier today, we discovered a bug in one of our reporting flows that allows people to report multiple instances of inappropriate content simultaneously.
"The bug allowed anyone to view a limited number of another user's most recently uploaded photos irrespective of the privacy setting for these photos.
"This was a result of one our recent code pushes and was live for a limited period of time. Upon discovering the bug, we immediately disabled the system, and will only return functionality once we can confirm the bug has been fixed."
This incident comes shortly on the heels of the U.S. Federal Trade Commission's investigation into Facebook's privacy settings and alleged deceptive practices. The social network has agreed to external inspections of its privacy settings, along with fines of $16,000 (£10,250) per day for new violations.
English
German/Deutsch
Norwegian/Norsk
Swedish/Svenska
Italian/Italiano
French/Français
Spanish/Español
Latest News
Twitter re-instated by Pakistani Authorities following social media ban
Microsoft Launches Open Search Social Network 'So.cl'
Twitter tells users who to follow
Users complaining on social networks
Google brings Knowledge Graph to Search
Most Facebook users don't click on ads
RSS News Feeds
Related Articles
