Hundreds of Instagram users locked out of accounts in hack

MANILA, Philippines – A growing number of Instagram users have reportedly been locked out of their accounts, according to Mashable.

Over a hundred users in the last few days took to Twitter to report that they were logged out of their accounts after their handle, email address, password, and phone number were unknowingly changed. Their bios were also completely deleted and their avatars replaced with film stills.

Interestingly, the alleged hackers did not post or remove any of the victims’ photos.

Most of the victims who spoke to Mashable and took to social media to report the incident share similar details of the attack including how the new email address linked to their accounts are on the .ru Russian domain. This means they have no way of resetting their passwords as the automated message will only get sent to the associated email address.

In many cases, the victims did not have two-factor authentication enabled which serves as an extra security measure to prevent these types of attacks. Mashable, however, believes that even this would not deter hackers.

It’s not yet clear who is behind the attack or how it was done but, Instagram is working to ensure the victims can safely access their accounts again.

“When we become aware of an account that has been compromised, we shut off access to the account and the people who’ve been affected are put through a remediation process so they can reset their password and take other necessary steps to secure their accounts,” said an Instagram spokesperson. – Rappler.com