Artificial Intelligence and Security Issues

Millions of information data are transferred across the internet systems every day. But unfortunately, these data are not fully protected against hacking activities. Despite the software system are complex and associated with built-in protection systems, there are still security holes in these systems which help attackers steal and damage these data. Therefore, all companies around the world are not completely immune against such activities.

Recently, Facebook engineering team revealed a security issue in their system which affected nearly around 50 million users. The hackers utilized weaknesses in Facebook code which was a result of three specific bugs that impacted the “view as “feature on fakebook. This feature allows people to compare their profiles with others. Through this security hole, hackers were able to steal Facebook accounts of 50 million users including CEO’s account and access keys which keep user’s profiles logged in without needing the password every time accessing their accounts.

Following the hacking incidence, the stock price of the company has dropped by 1.6% which is a bout a quarter of the stock value and subject to a lawsuit of almost 1.5 billion if it is appeared that Facebook violated the European privacy law. Also, Facebook has lost almost 3.4% of users in the United States since the last hacking event. In addition, Facebook CISO, Alex Stamos, has left the company following the arguments with Facebook administrators regarding the recent security breaches. During the last two hacking events, Facebook has lost over 123.4 billion and they are expecting more crisis if they don’t secure their platform from future breaches.

The falling in the statistical data puts Facebook at a high risk in the online marketing as more users are now shifting to Snapchat and Instagram as an alternative platform to stay connected with their friends. The rapid growth in social media applications and the continual threats on Facebook could affect on its business and dominance in the next few years.

As soon as Facebook identified the attack, they quickly turned off the View as feature and reset all security codes to prevent hackers from entering people’s Facebook accounts and force users to log in again into their Facebook accounts. Moreover, Facebook is currently working with law enforcement and they are taking an immediate action to identify the bugs source.

To better prevent such security issues in the future, Facebook assured clients on investing more on artificial intelligence and increase the number of security engineers. In addition, Facebook claimed that they will remove all fake accounts and ads. Overall, it is very important to learn that all social media platforms are not protected. Any information shared on these platforms could be stolen. Therefore, it is very important to become aware when using your information online.

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