Facebook's past and present payroll data were stolen: Report

Facebook's past and present payroll data were stolen: Report

Recently, the payroll data of around 29,000 current and former Facebook employees were stolen as part of theft last month of several hard drives from an employee’s car.

According to a Bloomberg article published Friday, the hard drives that were stolen were not encrypted and included information on Facebook employees including bank account numbers and the last four digits of Social Security numbers. The theft did not include any information on Facebook users.

The spokesperson emphasized that Facebook had seen“no evidence of abuse,” and classified the theft as a “smash and grab crime” and not as one specifically intended to steal employee information. “Out of an abundance of caution, we have notified the current and former employees whose information we believe was stored on the equipment – people who were on our U.S. payroll in 2018 – and are offering them free identity theft and credit monitoring services,” the spokesperson said. “This theft impacts current and former Facebook employees only and no Facebook user data was involved.”

It is to be noted that according to reports the theft occurred on Nov. 17, Facebook realized the hard drives were missing three days later, and it began notifying impacted employees on Friday.