At least one million internet users researched ways of hacking into Meta accounts, according to a new study by NordVPN.
Researchers calculated that almost two million Google searches from fifty countries, both English speaking and otherwise, involved the word "hack" and one of Meta's social media products, which include Facebook and Instagram.
"Today, a lot of harm can be done if a person’s social media accounts get hacked," Adrianus Warmenhoven, a cybersecurity expert at NordVPN, says.
"For example, Facebook is the second most popular social login to access third-party sites. Once obtained, Facebook accounts can open the gates to online stores that hold credit card data, and even more," Warmenhoven continues.
According to an article at PC Magazine, 70% of Americans are concerned about being hacked. While Facebook is among Americans' most trusted social media platforms, less than half trust the website with their privacy and data.
“However harmless these searches may look, they may end up breaching someone’s privacy. A person may get control over their ex-partner’s social media account, or a business owner may disrupt their competitor’s operations, not to mention that many hackers remember starting their ‘careers’ from those Google searches,” Adrianus Warmenhoven, a cybersecurity expert at NordVPN, said in a press release. “Today, a lot of harm can be done if a person’s social media accounts get hacked. For example, Facebook is the second most popular social login to access third-party sites. Once obtained, Facebook accounts can open the gates to online stores that hold credit card data and even more.”
Several studies reveal about 15 percent of social media users have experienced unauthorized activity on their social media accounts, per NordVPN’s new study, which also showed that 9 in 10 know at least one person whose social media accounts were hacked.
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