How Facebook killed the Internet

How Facebook (briefly) killed the Internet

An error with Facebook's log-in tool killed access to hundreds of sites for about 10 minutes Thursday evening.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Facebook error causes other sites to crash for users
• The problem, with Facebook's log-in tool, last about 10 minutes
• CNN, Mashable, Huffington Post, Hulu, Pinterest among the sites impacted

(CNN) -- For a few minutes Thursday evening, Facebook was redirecting users visiting dozens of websites -- including Mashable and CNN -- to cryptic error pages.

The reaction online was pretty much what you'd expect, with -- as The Next Web noted -- hashtags like "Facebookmageddon" and "Facebocalypse" common amongst Twitter users.

So what happened, exactly? There was an issue with the Facebook Connect API that caused users on sites that use that API to redirect users to a Facebook error page.

For example, if you were visiting Mashable and logged into our site using your Facebook account (and you were also signed into Facebook), you were automatically redirected to a Facebook error page.

Exiting the page or attempting to re-access the original site would lead to another.

Sites such as The Huffington Post, Kayak, Hulu, The Daily Dot, Pinterest and hundreds of others were all impacted. The bug lasted less than 10 minutes.

In a statement, Facebook told Mashable: "For a short period of time, there was a bug that redirected people logging in with Facebook from third party sites. The issue was quickly resolved and Login with Facebook is now working as usual."

The bug may have been brief, but it has highlighted just how many important websites use Facebook Connect for user authentication.

Over the span of just a few years, Facebook logins have become so pervasive that they are nearly second nature. It also shows that if Facebook has an issue, it can affect more than just its site -- it can also impact the hundreds of thousands (millions?) of sites that integrate with Facebook's APIs.

What's interesting is that a user didn't even need to be performing the action for the error -- and hijacking -- to occur. Instead, simply being logged into both places (and having the accounts linked) was enough to force users off of a third-party website and onto Facebook's error page.

Facebook hacked, says no user data compromised

Facebook says it has found no evidence that any user information was compromised in a hack last month.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Facebook says it was hacked in January when employees visited a compromised website
• The social network has found no evidence that any user data was obtained by the hackers
• This is latest in a string of high-profile hacks this year

(CNN) -- Facebook says it was recently hacked, though it says no data about its more than a billion users was compromised.

The company described the "sophisticated attack" in a blog post on Friday, saying it took place in January when a small number of employees visited a compromised website that installed malware on their machines.

"As soon as we discovered the presence of the malware, we remediated all infected machines, informed law enforcement and began a significant investigation that continues to this day," Facebook Security said in the post.

Facebook, the largest social network in the world, is the latest high-profile site to be hacked this year. Twitter announced a similar intrusion earlier this month, and major news organizations including The New York Times, Wall Street Journal and Washington Post have also admitted to being hacked.

The news sites attributed the breaches to hackers working for the Chinese government, but neither Facebook nor Twitter mention China when describing their attacks.

"Facebook was not alone in this attack. It is clear that others were attacked and infiltrated recently as well," said the blog post. "As one of the first companies to discover this malware, we immediately took steps to start sharing details about the infiltration with the other companies and entities that were affected. "

Unlike Twitter, Facebook said it has found no evidence that any user information was compromised. Twitter said that user names, encrypted passwords and e-mail addresses for as many as 250,000 users were potentially grabbed by the hackers. It reset passwords for all affected accounts.

The string of hacks have primarily exploited vulnerabilities in the programming language Java, which is installed on most computers by default. Facebook said the site responsible for its attack took advantage of a previously unknown Java vulnerability, which Oracle patched on February 1.

In January, the Department of Homeland Security issued an alert about the security-challenged software and recommended people turn it off on their computers. Apple turned off Java by default for its OS X users as a precaution. Full instructions on how to disable Java on any computer can be found on Oracle's website. If you must use Java, make sure that you have downloaded the latest updates, which include key security patches.

Facebook said it will continue to work with law enforcement and others in the industry to prevent future attacks.

Victor Slav Bianca Dragusanu relatie de dragoste

Victor Slav a negat că are o relaţie oficială cu Bianca Drăguşanu, însă în urmă cu câteva seri, prezentatorul meteo i-a trimis frumoasei roşcate un buchet de flori colorate.

Bianca Drăguşanu / FOTO: facebook.com

Bianca Drăguşanu a profitat imediat de moment şi a ţinut să arate şi prietenilor virtuali cât de strânsă este relaţia din ea şi Victor Slav.
"La mine asa incepe noaptea;)", a scris Bianca.
Potrivit emisiunii Happy Hour de la ProTv, Victor Slav și Bianca Drăgușanu au fost surprinși împreună, la Milano, în timpul unei reprize de shopping, confirmând astfel zvonurile potrivit cărora între cei doi s-ar fi înfiripat o poveste de dragoste după ce au dansat provocator de Revelion.