Instagram Hack – Is your account safe?

September 10, 2018 11:59 am

How Safe is Your Instagram Account?

Threat Level: 3

You haven’t been on Instagram all day, and are excited to open it up and see what everyone has been up to.  What’s new in the Instagram world?!  However, when you try to open it, you realize you are locked out.  How can this happen?  Turns out, you have been hacked, and hundreds of Instagram users can be victims to this hack as well.

Hackers are easily finding their way into Instagram accounts and changing the email addresses to Russian domain names.  Users become locked out due to their password, phone number and email address all being changed.  Many of the email addresses were changed to emails with .ru at the end, which is a domain used in Russia.

The easiest way to regain access to an account is through the email address that is associated with it.  Once it is changed, it makes gaining access much more difficult.  There are other reported cases of profile pictures being changed to a Disney or Pixar character, while all of the bio information is completely wiped out.  Due to the spike in Google searches and tweets regarding Instagram hacks, it is believed that these hacks have been happening since August.

It is unknown who is actually behind the hacks, but luckily there hasn’t been a significant increase in the number of hacked accounts.  Regardless, Instagram is prepared for it.  As soon as they are aware of any hacks that have taken place, access is shut off and a remediation process begins.  Also, their help page says that users that were hacked and had their email address changed can use the original username and email on the “Get Help Logging In” page.

According to Instagram’s security page, here are a few tips to avoid your account from getting hacked:

  • Regularly change your password, and use a combination of mixed letters, numbers and punctuation marks.
  • Be cautious of third-party app authorizations.
  • Keep email account information secure, because email access could also allow access to an Instagram account.

For the full article: Instagram Hack

 

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