A Facebook security breach confirmed on Friday may have left nearly 50-million users vulnerable. Included in that number? Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg and the company's European Vice President, Nicola Mendelsohn.
As for how they did it, the hackers were apparently able to exploit a vulnerability in Facebook's system allowing them to access log in information and control accounts. More specifically they compromised digital keys that people use to stay logged in on their devices, instead of having to regularly sign back in.Facebook has since reset the log-ins for a total of 90-million accounts for extra caution.
Zuckerberg has responded to the hack by saying, in part, "This is a really serious security issue, and we're taking it seriously."
This Facebook hack story reminded me of a story that I bookmarked over the weekend, but didn't have time to discuss on today's show: the inventor of the World Wide Web (no, it's not Al Gore) is working on a way for users to access the web WITHOUT going through a centralized source.
This, of course, would address many concerns such as companies using gathering information about you AND controlling the flow of information TO you.
In an exclusive interview with Fast Company, Tim Berners-Lee talks about how Solid, a decentralized web platform, would work:
Every bit of data he creates or adds on Solid exists within a Solid pod–which is an acronym for personal online data store. These pods are what give Solid users control over their applications and information on the web. Anyone using the platform will get a Solid identity and Solid pod. This is how people, Berners-Lee says, will take back the power of the web from corporations.
As a fan of the "Freakonomics" books, I can appreciate this solution to the concerns over huge, centralized companies controlling my access to the web and grabbing my personal data. You'll recall that the Freakonomics books frequently featured problems that seemed to called for a government solution - only to be solved by a disruption invented in the private sector. When the free market sees a need, it fills the void.
Or, as Berners-Lee tells Fast Company: "We are not talking to Facebook and Google about whether or not to introduce a complete change where all their business models are completely upended overnight. We are not asking their permission.”
Even the disrupters can be disrupted.