Meta has received a fine amounting to 91 million euros for storing Facebook and Instagram user passwords in plain text, A serious failure in information security. For several years, Tens of millions of passwords were accessible to company employees because they were not properly encrypted. Although the company assures that there were no indications of abuse by employees, The situation exposed millions of users to potential security risks.
The flaw affected users of different versions of Facebook, like Facebook Lite, and also Instagram users. Investigations revealed that this problem had been going on since at least 2012, and in some cases, These passwords had been consulted internally on numerous occasions by employees.
The fact that these passwords were not encrypted is a violation of the security standards that Meta should have maintained, which has led to the imposition of fines and the obligation to notify affected users. Meta has indicated that it has corrected the problem, But the reputational damage has already been done.
This situation is an important reminder of the need to maintain good security practices, such as the use of strong encryption to protect sensitive data.
Fountain: Hypertextual