Beautiful Virgin Islands

Tuesday, Jun 03, 2025

Facebook leak: Irish regulator probes 'old' data dump

Facebook leak: Irish regulator probes 'old' data dump

A data leak involving personal details of hundreds of millions of Facebook users is being reviewed by Ireland's Data Protection Commission (DPC).

The database is believed to contain a mix of Facebook profile names, phone numbers, locations and other facts about more than 530 million people.

Facebook says the data is "old", from a previously-reported leak in 2019.

But the Irish DPC said it will work with Facebook, to make sure that is the case.

Ireland's regulator is critical to such investigations, as Facebook's European headquarters is in Dublin, making it an important regulator for the EU.

The most recent data dump appears to contain the entire compromised database from the previous leak, which Facebook said it found and fixed more than a year and a half ago.

But the dataset has now been published for free in a hacking forum, making it much more widely available.

It covers 533 million people in 106 countries, according to researchers who have viewed the data. That includes 11 million Facebook users in the UK and more than 30 million Americans.

Not every piece of data is available for every user, but the large scale of the leak has prompted concern from cyber-security experts.

The DPC's deputy commissioner Graham Doyle said the recent data dump "appears to be" from the previous leak - and that the data-scraping behind it had happened before the EU's GDPR privacy legislation was in effect.

"However, 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," he added.

Phone issues


Despite the claims of the data being "old", some security researchers remain concerned due to the unchanging nature of the data involved.

Phone numbers, for example, are unlikely to have changed for many people in the past two to three years, and other information - such as a date of birth or hometown - never change.

Alon Gal, a well-known personality in cyber-security circles who tweets as @UnderTheBreach, wrote that the phone number database first appeared in January, where hackers could look up the phone database for a small fee.

But the widespread leak of the database "means that if you have a Facebook account, it is extremely likely the phone number used for the account was leaked," he tweeted.

"I have yet to see Facebook acknowledging this absolute negligence of your data," he added.


This is a cautionary tale on a colossal scale.

It's actually terrifyingly common for companies to store customer data in large, unsecured databases.

Often they are discovered by well-meaning security researchers and are either deleted or made safe swiftly before the bad guys stumble upon the treasure trove.

However, sometimes it's too late.

This case highlights that a company's defence "we've fixed it now" is not good enough.

The horse had bolted long before the stable doors were closed. And clearly, the horse has been having a field day for years since.

The database has likely changed criminal hands many times before now being offered for free.

Facebook may claim this is "an old story", but clearly it's one that keeps coming back to bite it - and, more importantly, its users.

Troy Hunt, a security expert who runs HaveIBeenPwned - an online service for users to check if their information has been involved in a data breach - said queries were six times higher than normal since news of the database's release broke.

He also suggested that the leaked dataset could be very useful "for a targeted attack where you know someone's name and country" - though it would be much harder to use for a blanket mass cyber-attack.

"But for spam based on using phone number alone, it's gold," he added.

"Not just SMS, there are heaps of services that just require a phone number these days and now there's hundreds of millions of them conveniently categorised by country with nice mail merge fields like name and gender."


De'Graft was shocked by the data Facebook stored on him


Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
Dutch government falls as far-right leader Wilders quits coalition
Harvard Urges US to Unfreeze Funds for Public Health Research
Businessman Mauled by Lion at Luxury Namibian Lodge
Researchers Consider New Destinations Beyond the U.S.
53-Year-Old Doctor Claims Biological Age of 23
Trump Struggles to Secure Trade Deals With China and Europe
Russia to Return 6,000 Corpses Under Ukraine Prisoner Swap Deal
Microsoft Lays Off Hundreds More Amid Restructuring
Harvey Weinstein’s Publicist Embraces Notoriety
Macron and Meloni Seek Unity Despite Tensions
Trump Administration Accused of Obstructing Deportation Cases
Newark Mayor Sues Over Arrest at Immigration Facility
Center-Left Candidate Projected to Win South Korean Presidency
Trump’s Tariffs Predicted to Stall Global Economic Growth
South Korea’s President-Elect Expected to Take Softer Line on Trump and North Korea
Trump’s China Strategy Remains a Geopolitical Puzzle
Ukraine Executes Long-Range Drone Strikes on Russian Airbases
Conservative Karol Nawrocki wins Poland’s presidential election
Study Identifies Potential Radicalization Risk Among Over One Million Muslims in Germany
Good news: Annalena Baerbock Elected President of the UN General Assembly
Apple Appeals EU Law Over User Data Sharing Requirements
South Africa: "First Black Bank" Collapses after Being Looted by Owners
Poland will now withdraw from the EU migration pact after pro-Trump nationalist wins Election
"That's Disgusting, Don’t Say It Again": The Trump Joke That Made the President Boil
Trump Cancels NASA Nominee Over Democratic Donations
Paris Saint-Germain's Greatest Triumph Is Football’s Lowest Point
OnlyFans for Sale: From Lockdown Lifeline to Eight-Billion-Dollar Empire
Mayor’s Security Officer Implicated | Shocking New Details Emerge in NYC Kidnapping Case
Hegseth Warns of Potential Chinese Military Action Against Taiwan
OPEC+ Agrees to Increase Oil Output for Third Consecutive Month
Jamie Dimon Warns U.S. Bond Market Faces Pressure from Rising Debt
Turkey Detains Istanbul Officials Amid Anti-Corruption Crackdown
Taylor Swift Gains Ownership of Her First Six Albums
Bangkok Ranked World's Top City for Remote Work in 2025
Satirical Sketch Sparks Political Spouse Feud in South Korea
Indonesia Quarry Collapse Leaves Multiple Dead and Missing
South Korean Election Video Pulled Amid Misogyny Outcry
Asian Economies Shift Away from US Dollar Amid Trade Tensions
Netflix Investigates Allegations of On-Set Mistreatment in K-Drama Production
US Defence Chief Reaffirms Strong Ties with Singapore Amid Regional Tensions
Vietnam Faces Strategic Dilemma Over China's Mekong River Projects
Malaysia's First AI Preacher Sparks Debate on Islamic Principles
White House Press Secretary Criticizes Harvard Funding, Advocates for Vocational Training
France to Implement Nationwide Smoking Ban in Outdoor Spaces Frequented by Children
Meta and Anduril Collaborate on AI-Driven Military Augmented Reality Systems
Russia's Fossil Fuel Revenues Approach €900 Billion Since Ukraine Invasion
U.S. Justice Department Reduces American Bar Association's Role in Judicial Nominations
U.S. Department of Energy Unveils 'Doudna' Supercomputer to Advance AI Research
U.S. SEC Dismisses Lawsuit Against Binance Amid Regulatory Shift
Alcohol Industry Faces Increased Scrutiny Amid Health Concerns
×