Instagram Accounts Are Being Hacked, Lock Yours Down Now (https://www.howtogeek.com/fyi/instagram-accounts-are-being-hacked-lock-yours-down-now/)by
Justin Pot (https://www.howtogeek.com/author/justinpot/) on August 14th, 2018
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Attackers are compromising Instagram accounts and locking out users, so take a moment to lock down your account.
A growing number of users are taking to Twitter and Reddit to complain about compromised Instagram accounts, and there seems to be a pattern. Here's Karissa Bell, writing for Mashable (https://mashable.com/2018/08/13/instagram-hack-locked-out-of-account/#VmThNR2Ndqqn)
QuoteIt's not clear how hackers are gaining access to these accounts, or if it's the result of a coordinated attack. But Mashable has identified several commonalities among the hacking victims—like a changed handle and profile avatar (often to an animated character from a Disney or Pixar film), deleted bios, and a new .ru email address on the account. In most cases, the Instagram users did not have two-factor authentication enabled at the time of the hack, but it appears even this setting may not be enough to deter hackers.
The changed email addresses are a big deal because they make it really hard to recover your account. With this in mind, we think prevention is key. Here's our advice:
- Change your password, particularly if you've been re-using one on various accounts. Set up a password manager (https://www.howtogeek.com/141500/why-you-should-use-a-password-manager-and-how-to-get-started/) so you can quickly generate random ones.
- Enable two factor authentication on Instagram (https://www.howtogeek.com/303241/how-to-enable-two-factor-authentication-for-instagram/) right now. Yes, some people have been hacked with this on, but it's still better to have this on
These steps aren't a guarantee, as Bell outlines in her piece, but it's a start. Stay safe out there!