Facebook has failed to make suitable checks on apps and developers using its platform

Facebook has been fined £500,000 by UK's Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) for allowing Cambridge Analytica to improperly gather and misuse data of 87 million users. the

The ICO announced in March 2018 that data from at least 1 million US citizens were misused and Facebook has failed to make suitable checks on apps and developers using its platform.

Although the fine imposed on Facebook is maximum allowable punishment under UK law - it’s a drop in the ocean for Facebook that generated annual revenue of £31.5 billion in 2017.

The penalty could have been much larger had it fallen under EU's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) but that GDPR came into force in May 2018 after the timing of the Cambridge Analytica scandal.

Ankush Johar, director at Infosec Ventures, said: This proves how important it is for an organisation to maintain the security of their user’s data. Laws related to cybersecurity are becoming more aggressive, organisations like earlier, don’t have the option to choose a fine instead of an investment on cybersecurity as earlier the fines were cheaper but now the game has changed especially after reforms such as the GDPR which enforces a fine as a percentage of the company's global turnover.

"Governments of other nations and especially the Indian government should take this as a lesson and pass similar reforms as the GDPR so that organisations in India are also made to improve their cybersecurity infrastructure because as of now, fines are not even close to this strict."