Data of 267 million Facebook users leaked online

Agencies
December 21, 2019

A database containing personal details of more than 267 million Facebook users was allegedly left exposed on the web, according to a report from Britain-based tech research firm Comparitech and security researcher Bob Diachenko.

Diachenko believes the trove of data -- including Facebook user IDs, phone numbers and names -- is most likely the result of an illegal scraping operation or Facebook API abuse by criminals in Vietnam.

"Scraping" is a term used to describe a process in which automated bots quickly sift through large numbers of web pages, copying data from each one into a database.

The information contained in the database could be used to conduct large-scale SMS spam and phishing campaigns, among other threats to end users, said the report on Thursday, adding that most of the affected users were from the US.

Facebook is reportedly investigating the issue.

"We are looking into this issue, but believe this is likely information obtained before changes we made in the past few years to better protect people's information," a Facebook spokesperson told Engadget.

The revelations come at a time when Facebook is trying to regain the trust of its users with protection of their data following the Cambridge Analytica scandal that badly hit its reputation.

More than one and a half years after the Cambridge Analytica scandal first became public, the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) earlier this month said that the now-defunct British data analytics and consulting company engaged in deceptive practices to harvest personal information from tens of millions of Facebook users for voter profiling and targeting.

After discovering that personal details of 267 million Facebook users were exposed online, Diachenko notified the Internet service provider managing the IP address of the server so that access could be removed.

However, the data was also posted to a hacker forum as a download, said the security researcher.

Facebook IDs are unique, public numbers associated with specific accounts, which can be used to discern an account's username and other profile info.

While how criminals obtained the user IDs and phone numbers is not entirely clear, one possibility is that the data was stolen from Facebook's developer API before the company restricted access to phone numbers in 2018.

Facebook's API is used by app developers to add social context to their applications by accessing users' profiles, friends list, groups, photos and event data. Phone numbers were available to third-party developers prior to 2018.

Facebook's API could also have a security hole that would allow criminals to access user IDs and phone numbers even after access was restricted, Diachenko said.

Another possibility is that the data was stolen without using the Facebook API at all, and instead scraped from publicly visible profile pages, according to the report.

This isn't the first time such a database has been exposed. In September 2019, 419 million records across several databases were exposed, including phone numbers and Facebook IDs.

The report warned that Facebook users should be on the lookout for suspicious text messages.

Even if the sender knows your name or some basic information about you, be sceptical of any unsolicited messages, it added.

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Agencies
May 19,2020

Washington DC, May 19: US President Donald Trump has threatened to permanently halt funding for the World Health Organisation (WHO) if it did not commit to improvements within 30 days, and to reconsider the membership of the United States in the global health body.

On Monday, Trump wrote a letter to WHO Director-General Tedros Ghebreyesus that read, "If WHO doesn't commit to major substantive improvements within the next 30 days, I will make my temporary freeze of US funding to WHO permanent and reconsider our membership in the organisation."

Trump had temporarily suspended US' contribution to the WHO last month, accusing it of promoting China's "disinformation" about the coronavirus outbreak, although WHO officials denied the accusation and Beijing said that it was transparent and open.

"The only way forward for the WHO is if it can actually demonstrate independence from China. My administration has already started discussions with you on how to reform the organisation. But action is needed quickly. 

We do not have time to waste," Trump said in the letter.

"I cannot allow American taxpayer dollars to continue to finance an organisation that, in its present state, is so clearly not serving America's interests," he added.

On Monday, the WHO said that an independent review of the global coronavirus response would begin at the earliest and it received backing from China, where the virus was first discovered.

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Agencies
June 24,2020

Washington, Jun 24: Twitter has once again flagged a tweet from US President Donald Trump which promoted violence by saying if protesters tried to set up an "autonomous zone" in Washington, DC they would be met with "serious force".

This is the fourth time Twitter has red flagged Trump's tweet for glorifying violence or violating its policies.

Trump has been critical of the "autonomous zone" in Seattle, an area occupied by protestors for much of this month.

"We've placed a public interest notice on this Tweet for violating our policy against abusive behaviour, specifically, the presence of a threat of harm against an identifiable group," Twitter's safety team tweeted late Tuesday.

Trump had tweeted: "There will never be an ‘Autonomous Zone' in Washington, D.C., as long as I'm your President. If they try they will be met with serious force!"

Twitter earlier labeled a video tweeted by him which mocked CNN as manipulated media.

According to Twitter, "this Tweet has been labeled per our synthetic and manipulated media policy to give people more context".

In May, Twitter labeled two Trump tweets that made false claims about mail-in ballots in California.

Twitter later labeled another Trump tweet glorifying violence in which he said, "when the looting starts, the shooting starts."

Facebook also removed a Trump campaign ad featuring a symbol used by Nazis for political dissenters, saying the ad violated its policies.

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News Network
April 13,2020

Vienna, Apr 13: Top oil-producing countries agreed on "historic" output cuts to prop up prices hammered by the coronavirus crisis and a Russia-Saudi price war, sending crude prices soaring on Monday.

The US benchmark WTI climbed 7.7 percent to $24.52 a barrel in early Asian trade while Brent was up 5.0 percent at $33.08.

OPEC producers dominated by Saudi Arabia and allies led by Russia thrashed out a compromise deal via videoconference Sunday after Mexico had balked at an earlier agreement struck on Friday.

In the compromise reached Sunday they agreed to a cut of 9.7 million barrels per day from May, according to Mexican Energy Minister Rocio Nahle, down slightly from 10 million barrels a day envisioned earlier.

OPEC Secretary General Mohammad Barkindo called the cuts "historic".

"They are largest in volume and the longest in duration, as they are planned to last for two years," he said.

The agreement between the Vienna-based Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and partners foresees deep output cuts in May and June followed by a gradual reduction in cuts until April 2022.

Barkindo added that the deal "paved the way for a global alliance with the participation of the G20".

Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, who chaired the meeting together with his Russian and Algerian counterparts, also confirmed that the discussions "ended with consensus".

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