It seems that Facebook and election machines aren’t the only things the Russians are busy with. They’re also busy sowing chaos on Instagram as well resulting in thousands of users being forced to say goodbye to their Instagram accounts and their hundreds of respective followers. For some unknown reason, these Instagram accounts are being hijacked by Russian hackers rendering them inaccessible. This problem has apparently been going on for weeks. Because regaining access to accounts is largely automatic, albeit a torturous one, the issue has gone unreported for some time. That is until it trended on Twitter where Instagram users have voiced their frustrations. Instagram mainly sends automatic messages to users on how to regain access to their accounts as well as some tips to help the users secure their accounts. Though Instagram, which has more than 1 billion users, says it hasn’t seen an uptick in hacks, a search of Twitter data suggests otherwise. Twitters users have directed approximately 798 tweets to Instagram’s official account with the word ‘hack’ since the beginning of the month, compared with about 40 tweets during the same period in July… There are numerous reports of hacks on Reddit, and a Google Trends search shows a spike in searches for “Instagram hacked†on Aug. 8, and again on Aug. 11. –Mashable https://twitter.com/instagram/status/1029534765970608128 –Instagram, Twitter Thousands of users report that they suddenly found themselves unable to access their accounts. When they try to access, they find that their registered emails have been changed to something with a .ru domain. Users profile pictures have also been replaced with stills from popular Disney/Pixar films as well as their phone numbers and short bios. The .ru domain mostly points to Russian involvement though given the benefit of a doubt, people can easily register to a Russian email service. What’s common about the hack is that the accounts involved may not have had enough security, weak passwords and the lack of two-factor authentication . But two-factor authentication is also not a guarantee that accounts will not be hacked as there were victims that also use the security feature which is quite unnerving, as the feature though tedious, guarantees a high level of security. Users have been voicing their frustrations over Twitter and other social media avenues on how Instagram has failed to support them. Frustrated users have threatened to say ” doh sveedahneeyah ” to the platform, while many are anxious to leave as Instagram has become their social media avenue in terms of additional exposure for business. Many of these accounts have hundreds if not thousands of followers these users depend on. Some have put up replacement accounts until Instagram gets their act together. Security experts speculate that the hacked accounts not recovered will be used as spam bots and that the contents will become a measure of proof that they’re valid. Users mostly see the hacks as a danger to their privacy; or in terms of social media, selective exposure. By now, the best option for Instagram users is to immediately switch to a new, more secure password, enable two-factor authentication and to post pre-emptive warnings and maybe even set up a backup account.
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