Tech Experts: It’s Way Too Easy to Read Facebook’s Source Code

oopsAccording to commenters on a Hacker News message board, Facebook’s source code is incredibly easy to read, and they warn that it could ultimately cause trouble for the site and its users. 

The code was discovered when a digital security expert working for firm Sinthetic Labs was fixing a few bugs and Googled an error message. Through his search, he found a link that led to Pastebin, a service used to store and share text. What he found when he clicked was a ton of Facebook’s names and commands, out in the open for anyone to find.

“It’s clear this output was intended to be seen by another engineer at Facebook, so posting it on Pastebin probably wasn’t the smartest move,” the security expert, Nathan Malcolm, wrote. “This person may have made other slip ups which could make them a target if an attacker sees an opportunity.”

Though this information wouldn’t mean anything to the vast majority of Internet users, it would certainly prove helpful to individuals looking to wreak havoc with Facebook’s operations behind the scenes. With a website as large as Facebook, there’s bound to be some oversights about the information that’s out there, but such a glaringly huge hole in its security is troubling — to say the least.



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