Vox Sentences: A(nother) hack at Facebook

Vox Sentences: A(nother) hack at Facebook

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50 million Facebook users may have been hacked; Indonesia is hit by back-to-back earthquakes and a tsunami.


The largest hack in Facebook’s history

 Hazem Bader/AFP/Getty Images
  • Facebook announced on Friday that hackers had breached the company’s network and stolen the data of 50 million users. Facebook discovered the breach earlier this week and notified authorities, but it’s unclear when the breach happened. [NYT / Mike Isaac and Sheera Frenkel]
  • Hackers gained access to Facebook’s system through a new “view as” feature on the website that allows people to view their profile as another user. Facebook said in a blog post that it has shut down the feature until the issue is fixed and a security review is conducted. [WSJ / Deepa Seetharaman and Robert McMillan]
  • Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said, “This is a very serious security issue, and we’re taking it very seriously.” [Wired / Louise Matsakis and Issie Lapowsky]
  • It’s unclear who has been affected, what kind of data has been stolen, or who carried out the attack. [BBC]
  • Taiwanese “white hat” hacker Chang Chi-yuan said he was planning to hack into Facebook on Sunday and delete Zuckerberg’s Facebook profile on a live stream. Chang has since canceled the event, and Facebook has not shown any sign that he is to blame for the data theft. [The Verge / Jon Porter]
  • The value of Facebook’s shares has dropped by 3.5 percent in the wake of the announcement. [CNBC / Michelle Castillo]
  • Sen. Mark Warner asked that the Senate Cybersecurity Caucus launch a “full investigation” into the breach. [NPR / Camila Domonoske]

Indonesia hit by earthquakes and a tsunami

  • On Friday, Indonesia’s Sulawesi island was hit by a tsunami, which landed in Sulawesi’s capital, Palu. [AP / Stephen Wright and Ali Kotarumalos]
  • The tsunami was triggered by a 7.5 magnitude earthquake, which was followed by multiple aftershocks reaching magnitudes as high as 6.7. As of now, one person has been reported dead and 10 others injured. [CNN / Pauline Lockwood, Angus Watson, and Angela Dewan]
  • A video from the moment the tsunami hit depicted houses being swept away and people screaming and running from the water. [Mashable / Amanda Luz Henning Santiago]
  • Indonesia was devastated by the Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami in 2004, which killed more than 226,000 people across 13 countries — including more than 120,000 people died in Indonesia alone. [ABC AU]
  • A spokesperson for the National Disaster Mitigation Agency said they “expect more damage and more victims” in the coming hours. [Reuters / Gayatri Suroyo]

Miscellaneous

  • The Securities and Exchange Commission sued Tesla CEO Elon Musk on Thursday for misleading investors and making “false … statements.” The lawsuit stems from an August tweet Musk sent that he was “considering taking Tesla private.” [CNN Money / Julia Horowitz]
  • A Jeopardy contestant took over Alex Trebek’s job and asked his girlfriend, who was sitting in the audience, a question himself: to marry him. Maria quickly answered, “What is yes?” [YouTube / Jeopardy]
  • Actress Alyssa Milano sat in the audience behind Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh during his Senate Judiciary Committee hearing with Christine Blasey Ford on Thursday. Milano, who is a survivor of sexual assault, said the temperament in the room quickly went from one of “hope” to one of “rage” as the committee finished questioning Ford and moved on to Kavanaugh. [Hollywood Reporter / Jackie Strause]
  • The Clothing company Urban Outfitters is selling an Instagram “Influencer” Halloween costume that looks suspiciously similar to ensembles worn by reality star Kim Kardashian and her siblings. You too could get a pair of leggings and a sports bra for the low, low price of $59! [Nylon / Allison Stubblebine]

Verbatim

“You’re telling all women that they don’t matter, that they should just stay quiet, that if they tell you what happened to them you’re going to ignore them. That’s what happened to me, that’s what you’re telling all women in America: They don’t matter.” [A sexual assault survivor who confronted Sen. Jeff Flake in an elevator after he said he would vote to advance Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation to the Senate floor / Slate]


Watch this: Why Kavanaugh’s accusers can’t remember everything

We expect Christine Blasey Ford and Brett Kavanaugh’s other accusers to perfectly remember the details of what happened to them. But that’s not how memory works, and fixating on the gaps in victims’ memories makes it harder for us to take credible allegations seriously. [YouTube / Carlos Maza and Hunter Boone]


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