Skip to main content

Instagram suffers a hack on some of its most high-profile users

Best time to post on instagram
Jordan McQueen/Unsplash
At this point in time, be thankful that you’re not an Instagram influencer. On Wednesday, the Facebook-owned photo sharing app revealed that “at least one hacker” managed to steal personal information from a number of high-profile user accounts. Apparently, the breach was caused by a bug in the system, which Instagram says has now been addressed.

“We recently discovered that one or more individuals obtained unlawful access to a number of high-profile Instagram users’ contact information — specifically email address and phone number — by exploiting a bug in an Instagram API,” an Instagram representative noted in a statement. Luckily, it would appear that account passwords were kept safe, but all the same, it’s an alarming security loophole in an app that boasts more than 700 million users a month.

Instagram’s announcement comes on the heels of another extremely high-profile hack. Earlier this week, Selena Gomez, who boasts the greatest number of followers on the platform, saw her own Instagram profile hacked. As a result, nude photos of ex-boyfriend Justin Bieber were posted to her account. The social media platform briefly shut down the account to help Gomez restore control of the profile and re-secure exclusive access.

But now, it’s not just Gomez who may need to be concerned. Instagram has not yet disclosed whether the latest breach is at all related to the earlier hack and also has not revealed exactly whose accounts were affected.

“At this point we believe this effort was targeted at high-profile users so, out of an abundance of caution, we are notifying our verified account holders of this issue,” an Instagram spokesperson told Fortune in a statement. So if you have a little blue check next to your name in your Instagram account, you will be getting an email from Instagram regardless of whether or not you were affected by the breach, reminding you to make use of two-factor authentication and unique passwords.

“Our main concern is for the safety and security of our community,” Instagram said. “As always, we encourage people to be vigilant about the security of their account and exercise caution if they encounter any suspicious activity such as unrecognized incoming calls, texts, and emails.”

Lulu Chang
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Fascinated by the effects of technology on human interaction, Lulu believes that if her parents can use your new app…
Instagram continues its TikTok makeover, will convert all videos to Reels
Instagram turning all your videos into Reels

Earlier this month, Instagram started testing a new feature that turned videos posted by users into Reels. If you count yourself among people that think it’s a bad idea, there’s some bad news. Instagram has just announced that all videos shorter than 15 minutes in length will be automatically shared as a Reel.

The change, which is going to be implemented in the coming weeks, will have a major impact. If you have a public profile, your videos don’t just pop up in another random person’s Reels section. They only appear on the main feed of people who follow you. That is about to change soon.

Read more
Instagram test lets you pin particular posts to your profile
3D Instagram icon.

Instagram is testing a new feature that would let you pin particular posts above the grid on your profile page.

Testing is currently limited to a select group of users on the platform. To see if you’re one of them, simply go to one of your posts, tap the three dots at the top right, and look for the message “pin to your profile” in the list of options.

Read more
Instagram wants more ‘original’ content on its platform
Turned on smartphone with Instagram app icon on its screen.

More features, more original content? It seems Instagram is banking on the former to facilitate more of the latter.

On Wednesday, Adam Mosseri, head of Instagram, announced via a tweeted video three of the photo-sharing app's latest features. In the video (and its tweet), Mosseri explains that these three features -- product tags, enhanced people tags, and adjusting rankings for originality -- are part of an effort to support creators and ensure they "get all the credit they deserve."

Read more