Facebook parent Meta fired and disciplined more than two dozen employees and contractors for taking over user accounts in the last year, the Wall Street Journal reported Thursday. In some cases, the hijacking was allegedly undertaken for thousands of dollars in bribes from outside hackers.
Meta, which also owns social media site Instagram, didn’t immediately respond for comment.
The Journal report says that some of those fired were contractors who provided security at Meta facilities. These contractors were given access to internal employee tools, internally known as “Oops” (short for Online Operations). The tools allow employees to help users restore access to their accounts, either because the user forgot their passwords or emails, or had their accounts hijacked by hackers, according to the report.
Though the system is intended for limited use, such as for special cases involving friends, family, business partners and public figures, Oops usage has skyrocketed in recent years. In 2020 alone, the Oops channel serviced “about 50,270 tasks, up from 22,000 three years earlier,” according to the Journal.
The recent disciplinary actions are allegedly part of a larger probe led by Meta executives into the abuse of the internal Oops system.
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