Social media behemoth Facebook believes that spammers, not state-sponsored hackers, are behind the recent infamous breach that stole the personal details of nearly 30 million Facebook users.
The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Facebook privately believes it was spammers looking to monetize illegally through deceptive advertising are responsible for the breach of private information of 30 million users. An internal investigation by the company further suggests that preliminary signs indicate that the hackers weren’t affiliated with a nation-state.
The breach, which Facebook admits is the biggest in its history, has been investigated by Facebook’s internal security team since September 25, the report added. When it first announced the hack, officials claimed they may never be able to discover the identities of the hacker.
However, internal researchers now believe that the perpetrators are likely to be a group of Instagram and Facebook spammers purporting to be from a digital marketing company. WSJ sources close to the investigation also added that this group’s activities were previously known by Facebook’s security team.
AS things stand, the possibility of stolen access tokens in the hands of state-sponsored hackers is a significant concern. Facebook’s internal probe, however, suggests that the hackers’ motives were purely financial.
Facebook vice president Guy Rosen, who heads the company’s security and safety effort, declined to share details of those behind the beach, explaining Facebook’s ongoing cooperation with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
He stated:
“They’re actively investigating this with us and they’ve asked us not to discuss who may be behind this attack or what their intentions could be.”
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