Wired Interviews Tom Kelly About What Spammers Could Do with Your Hacked Facebook Data
Over 30 million accounts were recently affected by the Facebook data breach that was discovered on September 25th. Originally thought to be the work of sophisticated nation state hackers, a new report by the Wall Street Journal suggests that Facebook now believes that the hackers were actually spammers looking to make money through deceptive advertising. So how does this change the risks associated with a breach of this magnitude? Wired Magazine recently interviewed ID Expert’s CEO, Tom Kelly, to learn just how much damage criminals can do with the kind of information stolen from Facebook.
“Facebook is the new stolen credit card in terms of the data and value it provides criminals,” says Tom Kelly. “Many people do not realize the effect the recent Facebook breach has had on their risk for identity theft or know how to protect themselves.”
As the article goes on to say, the stolen Facebook data could fuel online scam campaigns for years and provide cyber criminals with ammunition that will last a lifetime. Although consumers have little recourse against malicious advertising, phishing, and spam attacks, it’s now more important than ever to:
- Monitor financial and social media accounts for suspicious activity
- Avoid messages that suddenly create a sense of urgency to act on something
- Stay suspicious of links and unexpected communications.
Read the full story: What Spammers Could Do with Your Hacked Facebook Data
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