Instagram… hacked? Instagram indeed was hacked this past week in a nasty cyberattack. When Instagram warned its users that there was a security flaw on site that left their emails and phone numbers open to being compromised, it appears someone had already gained access to the leaked data. Friday, CTO Mike Krieger published a blog post reassuring users that even though they couldn’t determine which accounts were impacted specifically, that they believed it was a low percentage of accounts and that no passwords were involved.
One of the database managers said they gained access to over 6 million various user accounts when they hacked Instagram, and that they first heard about the data vulnerability via a chatroom on August 25. The hackers are currently attempting to sell the information from the Instagram hack back to the people it was stolen from for $10 per account. It’s currently stored on a searchable database that isn’t accessible by traditional browsers.
Facebook has declined to comment on the Instagram hack despite being the owner of Instagram.
Emails and phone numbers can be used to hijack a person’s SIM card and gain illegitimate access to their email account, so it is vital that anyone who has an Instagram account change the email address associated with their accounts ASAP to avoid being affected by this Instagram hack.
Please note changing your password will not render you immune to this security vulnerability. You need to change the email address associated with your Instagram user account.