Lyra Martin Tech 08.22.2022 02:Aug AM EDT

Facebook Messenger Flaw Allowed Attackers to See Who You Had Conversations With

A Facebook Messenger security weakness puts a user's privacy in peril since it allows attackers to see who they are speaking to, according to a security researcher from a company.

A Security Flaw Found in Facebook Messenger Puts Its Users' Privacy at Stake

Despite remaining vulnerable to security issues, Facebook is making progress toward private conversation. On August 18, it was conveyed by a security company known as Imperva that prospective attackers may know who you were speaking with because of a security flaw in Facebook Messenger.

Security researcher Ron Masas, who found the problem, issued a warning that even if the security hole did not reveal the substance of people's conversations, it would still put their privacies at risk as attackers can identify with whom the users are in contact.

Facebook claimed that the issue was taken care of in December. "The issue in his report stems from the way web browsers handle content embedded in webpages and is not specific to Facebook," a spokesman said.

The speaker also noted that the company had changed the online version of Messenger to stop this browser behavior and asked browser developers and web standards groups to prevent it from happening in other web apps.

A similar Facebook flaw that operated by inspecting iFrames, the code used to include YouTube videos on websites, was described by Masas in November last year. It allowed data thieves to access what users and their friends liked, including content that was supposed to be personal.

According to Masas, Messenger loaded a specific number of iFrames into its users' browsers, which might belong to persons with whom the user has previously engaged or those with whom they have never come into contact.

A day after Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook's CEO, announced his plans for the social network's future to change to a network focusing on privacy that operates based on encrypted communications, the security flaw in was discovered.

Facebook Fights to Stay in the Top 10 US App Stores Owing to the Rise of New Rivals

This year, Facebook struggled to maintain its position among the top 10 apps in the US App Store due to the movement of younger consumers to competing services like TikTok and BeReal. According to an analysis of data from the iPhone App Store, Facebook's position on the Top Charts decreased.

Facebook almost missed being among the top 10 free iPhone applications seven times in 2014. This number has risen to 97 by 2022, showing that Facebook will be losing momentum as new programs overtake old ones on the App Store's most popular rankings.

According to the information given by Sensor Tower to Tech Crunch, Facebook's app deteriorated 59 times in the first half of 2022, even while it only missed the top 10 on six occasions in 2021.

In line with this, Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta, has discussed openly that the corporation is worried about failing to attract a new generation of consumers.

The executive informed investors last fall that the firm has been refocusing its efforts on young adults rather than the older demographic that makes up most of the company's app users, and admitted that the change might take years rather than months.

Additionally, since about March 2021, the "time spent" metric for US youths on Facebook has been declining 16% year over year, according to internal Facebook statistics acquired by the social media network. Based on the data, fewer American youths joined Facebook, and many of them utilized it less often.