Facebook - Isn't this a big vulnerability risk for users? (After Password Change)

Posted by Trufa on Programmers See other posts from Programmers or by Trufa
Published on 2011-02-09T14:41:59Z Indexed on 2011/02/09 15:33 UTC
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I would like to know you opinions as programmers / developers.

When I changed my Facebook password yesterday, by mistake I entered the old one and got this:

enter image description here

Am I missing something here or this is a big potencial risk for users.

In my opinion this is a problem BECAUSE it is FaceBook and is used by, well, everyone and the latest statistics show that 76.3% of the users are idiots [source:me], that is more that 3/4!!

All kidding aside:

  • Isn't this useful information for an attacker?
  • It reveals private information about the user!
  • It could help the attacker gain access to another site in which the user used the same password
    • Granted, you should't use use the same password twice (but remember: 76.3%!!!)
  • Doesn't this simply increase the surface area for attackers?
    • It increases the chances of getting useful information at least.
  • In a site like Facebook 1st choice for hackers and (bad) people interested in valued personal information shouldn't anything increasing the chance of a vulnerability be removed?

Am I missing something? Am I being paranoid? Will 76.3% of the accounts will be hacked after this post?

Thanks in advance!!

BTW if you want to try it out, a dummy account:

user: [email protected]
(old) password: hunter2

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