Instagram continues its war against hackers. The platform has just deployed new means to help users whose account has been hacked, and thus prevent hackers from usurping identities or taking control of influential accounts.
No one likes having an account hacked, and it’s even worse when the email address and other information has been changed. And unfortunately, social network users are regularly the target of cyberattacks. A stolen Instagram account is very useful to hackers, who can use it to massively spread scams – there is a priori no reason to be suspicious of a link sent by a friend or a contest launched by his influencer favorite – or gaining access to valuable personal data, which can in turn be sold on the dark web. Also, any measure to fight against these practices is more than welcome. However, on the Meta platform, recovery measures for hacked accounts have so far been very slow, which sometimes forces victims to turn to other hackers to regain access to their account. Fortunately, on December 15, 2022, Meta announced in a press release that the platform would deploy new means to help victims, in order to give them several options to get out of trouble. The company also announced that it will take tougher measures against identity theft.
Instagram account hacked: new tools to recover your identity
To help users who have seen their Instagram account hacked, Meta has set up a new platform for this purpose at the following address: instagram.com/hacked. It allows you to report any act of piracy, whether it is the use of your username and/or your photo by a third party, the impossibility of accessing your account following a change in the password and the means of resetting. by a hacker, or if the double authentication code is sent to the wrong number or to the wrong e-mail address, by checking the corresponding box. Then just follow the instructions that appear on the screen. A method that also works for users with multiple accounts.
But this is not the only solution offered by Instagram, which decides to put the victim’s friends to work in order to attest to his identity. She can thus ask two of them – obviously present on Instagram – to testify to the platform that it is indeed the real person who is trying to recover her account – it is better to have warned them before then. An option tested since the beginning of the year, and which is now available to everyone.
Hacked Instagram Account: Fighting Threats Upstream
But the most effective way to combat account takeover is to remove the threat before it strikes. Thus, Instagram will delete accounts that its automated systems deem to be malicious – in particular those that impersonate other people – and, as soon as it has the slightest suspicion, send warnings to the user if an account it suspects of impersonating someone asks to follow them – an option that is being tested. It also plans, in the coming months, to send out warnings if an account that might be impersonating a business sends a direct message (DM).
Finally, Instagram will now display the famous blue certification badge, which is normally found on the profile of an official page, in more places: Stories and DMs and, soon, Feeds. A way to be sure that the information or contact request comes from the real person, and thus reduce identity theft, fake news and social engineering techniques aimed at extracting information from the victim. Measures more than necessary given the number of influencers and content creators present on the platform.