Facebook users are being urged to check their account security after it was recently confirmed that the company suffered a large scale data leak as a result of a hack.
Although the social media giants have claimed that the leaked data is old, from a leak that occurred in 2019, the information affected includes email addresses and phone numbers and is thought to be linked to over 500 million accounts.
After the personal information was leaked on online forums, numerous officials and tech providers are imploring users of the application to check their account security and to ensure that they have two-factor authentication enabled.
Though there is no certainty as to whether passwords are included in the data which has been leaked, it is hoped that the full extent of the impact will be confirmed in the coming weeks.
BBC have claimed that the leak is being reviewed by Ireland’s Data Protection Commission (DPC). The DPC’s Deputy Commissioner, Graham Doyle, remarked: “Following this weekend’s media reporting we are examining the matter to establish whether the dataset referred to is indeed the same as that reported in 2019.”