According to Fox News, Facebook confirms word of a security breach affecting nearly 50 million user accounts. The company's engineering team discovered the issue on Tuesday afternoon.
The attackers exploited a vulnerability in Facebook’s code related to the "View As" feature. "View As" lets people see what their own profile looks like to other users. The hackers were able to steal Facebook access tokens (sort of like digital keys that keep you logged into your account, so you don't need to enter your password every time you visit the site) and take over people’s accounts.
This blow comes as Facebook has been under scrutiny for failing to keep user data safe for the past couple of years. The company took a major hit this past March when it was revealed that Cambridge Analytica, a UK-based digital consultancy, was able to harvest the personal info of 87 million users.
Facebook says it has taken steps to fix the issue and alerted law enforcement. You can read their statement on the matter here or click through in the tweet below.