Instagram Accounts Are Being Hacked, Lock Yours Down Now-gctid261022

[Ajamu]

 
Instagram Accounts Are Being Hacked, Lock Yours Down Now
by Justin Pot on August 14th, 2018



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

It'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 so you can quickly generate random ones.
• Enable two factor authentication on 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!