It wouldn’t be a new year if we didn’t have our first report of a hack of Meta. We have reports of Instagram having their latest hack. Many of you would’ve noticed this if you received password reset emails from the platform. According to Malwarebytes, there was a data breach of 17.5 million user’s sensitive information.
After a routine search on the dark web, they discovered that personal information, including usernames, physical addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, and more are available for sale. Much of the information, according to online reports, is tied to a potential related hack of an Instagram API back in 2024.
On Reddit, users started posting screenshots of emails about resetting the password to their account. As you can see in the screenshot of the post below:
Instagram Has Said Nothing About It
Of course Meta hasn’t commented on the report. However, the company posted on X that the issue had been fixed and also claimed there was no breach of its systems.
In this day in age, it is important to have tough passwords. You can use password managers that can create complex (i.e. long, mixed with numbers and symbols) passwords. One of my favorites is Bitwarden. It is free and you can use it on your PC, tablets, and mobile devices. Save them as well so you don’t have to remember or write them down.
For some, two-factor authentication is another way to go. I use Authy for my more personal accounts. Yes, it is a pain in the ass to use, especially if you don’t have your device next to you. However, many apps offer their own, which is good too.
If you received an email request, it is best to update your password. As you can see below:
It is extremely difficult to keep you information completely private, but we should do our best to keep it locked.