Hacker leaks data of 1.2 billion Facebook users, is your data on dark web? Know how to…

In another biggest privacy breach in Meta's history, over 1.2 billion Facebook users' records have been reportedly leaked, by a hacker operating under the alias, ByteBreaker. The hacker has put these data on sale on the dark web. Cybernews, a cybersecurity outlet has reported that the hacker, ByteBreaker has published the samples of around 100,000 user records and sensitive information, that included user IDs, full names, email addresses, phone numbers, birthdates, gender, and location details. This was leaked on a well known dark web forum.

How did the hacker leak the data?

The hacker claimed that they used one of Facebook's APIs and were able to access the sensitive information without permissions. This sensitive information can now lead to a series of thefts, scams, phishing and other cybercrimes. The cybercriminals are exploiting the API tools and getting through safeguards to access the basic profile information. API tools allow apps to interact with different platforms. Other platform's APIs have also been targeted, including OpenAi, Shopify and GoDaddy.

Meta's clarification

Facebook's parent company Meta, owned by Mark Zuckerberg has yet not confirmed or denied the data leak. Meta spokesperson have clarified that this is not new and is from 2021. In 2021, data of over 500 million users was leaked, and Meta was fined €265 million, by European privacy regulators. 

Many experts have also clarified that there is some overlap with 2021 break data and current 100,00 record samples. However, now that the number has risen, critics argue that there has been no action taken by Meta to resolve these vulnerabilities in 2025.Meta has repeatedly faced lawsuits and penalties around these security breach claims.

Here's what users can do for security

1. Changing Facebook password

2. Enabling two-factor authentications

3. Setting up fraud alert notifications

4. checking emails and phone activity to ensure there is no sign of phishing attempts