BNXS

Some two students at the Indiana University recently uncovered a weak point on the Facebook platform that allowed attackers to gain access to users’ data. According to the two students, Rui Wang and Zhou Li, there is a flaw on Facebook’s platform that allows a malicious site to pose as other websites and gain access to users’ data that those sites have permission to get. For instance Bing.com has the permission to access the basic information of a Facebook user such as their name and gender. The malicious site can impersonate Bing.com and gain access to the same information. It can also do the same for other sites that request permission to access users’ data like FarmVille and YouTube. Once access is gained the site can steal data or even post bogus messages on a user’s behalf. Facebook acted quickly to patch up the flow and added that it did not have any information of it having been exploited. A spokesperson at the company said that security was a top priority in Facebook. The company devotes significant efforts and resources to protect their members’ accounts and information. Facebook also works closely with security experts around the world especially in rare occasions when vulnerabilities are discovered.