Yes, the major public clouds offer a lot. But what you may not know are the limitations, and how open clouds make the difference. Elevate your enterprise data technology and strategy at Transform 2021. Over the past week, there’s been an uptick in users reporting on Reddit and Twitter that their Instagram accounts have been hacked and the contact information associated with the account changed. After Mashable first reported on the account takeovers Monday, Instagram now says it’s looking into the claims. “We are investigating claims of some hacked Instagram accounts and will take the necessary steps to help those impacted,” an Instagram spokesperson said in an email to VentureBeat on Tuesday, in response to questions about the account hacks detailed by Mashable. Instagram initially told Mashable that it hadn’t seen an uptick in hacks. Mashable, citing data from analytics platform Talkwalker, says there have been more than 5,000 tweets from 899 accounts mentioning Instagram hacks in the last week. Many of the hacks reported in recent days share a few commonalities: The hackers aren’t posting anything on the accounts yet, instead immediately changing the email address and/or phone number associated with the account, as well as the user name and image. At least one user told Mashable that he was using two-factor authentication when his account was hacked, but it did nothing to stop his account from being taken over. Here’s one account from Reddit user jman7777: On Monday morning August 6th I went to log into Instagram on my iPhone and it immediately told me my user name was not valid. I tried typing in my email address to reset my password and it said there was no valid email address by that name. I was stumped and somehow thought my Instagram account had been deleted. I immediately re-registered my user name, using what was my original Instagram email, with the hopes that I would able to reclaim my user name/account before someone else took it. Fast forward to lunchtime that day, I’m receiving text messages from friends are asking me what I did to my Instagram account. It was at that point that I realized my original account hadn’t been deleted at all, but rather, my user name, email address, phone number, bio and avatar were all changed by someone having a .ru email address. I immediately realized I had been hacked and filled out the submission form Instagram provides if you think your account has been hacked. Like the account above, many users also reported that they were hacked by email accounts linked to a Russian domain name. Russian hacking activity on social media networks has been highly scrutinized, particularly since the Russia-linked Internet Research Agency was revealed to have spread misinformation on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and other platforms in an attempt to influence the U.S. 2016 presidential election. But it’s too early to speculate on a motive for the Instagram hacks or who is behind them. An Instagram spokesperson did not respond to a question about whether they’ve seen an uptick in accounts being hacked by email addresses ending in .ru, or whether that’s something they track. The biggest point of frustration for affected users seems to be that they can’t reach out to Instagram directly for help, instead getting sucked into an automated help form, similar to Twitter users who were recently locked out of their accounts in a purge of potentially underage users. Additionally, users aren’t sure if they should report their original handle as the handle that’s been hacked, or the new handle that the hacker has switched it to. Update, 8/15: Last night, Instagram published a blog post addressing the reports. Mostly, it just shares basic tips on how to keep your account secure, like using a password with at least six numbers and/or letters, and turning on 2FA. But, it does say that users who have reached out to Instagram about their accounts being taken over will hear back “soon.”<doc-sep>Krista, an Instagram user with more than 4,500 followers on her fitness account, noticed something strange on Saturday evening: she had been logged out of her account. When she tried to log back in, she got a message that her username didn't exist. She soon realized her handle and photo had both been changed, as had the email address and phone number associated with her account. She tried to request a password reset, only to see the new email linked to her account was now a .ru email: she had been hacked. SEE ALSO: Dozens of Vegas slots went offline simultaneously during a hacker convention Megan, an Instagram user with about 2,000 followers, has a similar story. She woke up Monday morning to a logged out Instagram account. Her user name and profile image had changed, as had the password, email address, and Facebook account linked to her Instagram. Like half a dozen other hacking victims who spoke with Mashable, her profile photo had been changed, as had all the contact information linked to the account, which was now linked to an email with a .ru Russian domain. Many of these users have been desperately tweeting at Instagram's Twitter account for help Megan and Krista's experiences are not isolated cases. They are two of hundreds of Instagram users who have reported similar attacks since the beginning of the month. On Twitter, there have been more than 100 of these types of anecdotal reports in the last 24 hours alone. According to data from analytics platform Talkwalker, there have been more than 5,000 tweets from 899 accounts mentioning Instagram hacks just in the last seven days. Many of these users have been desperately tweeting at Instagram's Twitter account for help. 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. Twitter 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. “We work hard to provide the Instagram community with a safe and secure experience," an Instagram spokesperson said in a statement. "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.” It's not clear how hackers are gaining access to these accounts, or if it's the result of a coordinated attack. But Mashable has identified several commonalities among the hacking victims — like a changed handle and profile avatar (often to an animated character from a Disney or Pixar film), deleted bios, and a new .ru email address on the account. In most cases, the Instagram users did not have two-factor authentication enabled at the time of the hack, but it appears even this setting may not be enough to deter hackers. Chris Woznicki's account info was changed, along the with the email associated with his account. The extra security measure didn't protect Chris Woznicki, who was using two-factor authentication at the time his account was hacked 10 days ago. Woznicki says Instagram sent him security emails notifying him the email address on his account had been changed (once again, to a .ru address) and 2FA had been disabled. But by the time he saw the messages, it was too late and he had already lost access to his account, which had 660 followers. Others have reported similar occurrences. Interestingly, the hackers don't appear to be posting new photos or removing old posts from their victims' accounts, as is often the case when a social media account is compromised. But they are changing all of the contact information linked to the account, which makes it exceedingly difficult for its owner to regain access. A security email sent to Chris Woznicki, he saw it too late to lock down his Instagram account. That's because Instagram's own security policies can make it challenging for someone to access an account if they no longer own the email and phone number associated with the account. While that policy is in place for obvious reasons — you don't want just anyone to be able to request a password reset, for example — it also has the effect of making the account recovery process extremely difficult for people who have had their account credentials changed. "When I reported it, they sent an automated email which told me to log in and change the password," says Woznicki. "However at this point it was impossible to do that." Instagram say it has a process in place to address these types of cases, but many users have found it lacking. Because the company relies on a largely automated account recovery process, it can be time consuming, and leave users feeling like they are moving in circles without anyone actually addressing their situation. "The maze that Instagram sends you on to get your account back is laughable" "The maze that Instagram sends you on to get your account back is laughable and leads to broken/dead links and emails from robots which lead nowhere," says Abigail Nowak, whose Instagram was also hacked. Nowak, who works closely with Facebook as part of her day job as a social media manager, has not been able to access her account for five days, despite several attempts to contact Instagram, she said. Her account is now linked to an email address with a Russian domain. For others, regaining access to their Instagram accounts is more than just a personal matter. Krista, the fitness influencer, is worried losing her account could compromise her relationship with several sponsors. "If I am unable to get my account back it's going to affect the sponsorships I have," she says. Some Instagram users have been able to successfully navigate Instagram's remediation process.<doc-sep>A widespread hacking campaign that appears to stem from Russia is affecting hundreds of Instagram users, leaving people locked out of their accounts. The hack sees Instagram account names, profile pictures, passwords and email addresses associated with accounts changed by the attackers, with the new email addresses originating from a Russian email provider. Many of the affected accounts have had their profile pictures replaced with stills from popular films, including Pirates of the Caribbean and Despicable Me 3. 11 useful Instagram features you didn't know existed Show all 11 1 /11 11 useful Instagram features you didn't know existed 11 useful Instagram features you didn't know existed Hide and reorder filters Filters are a core part of Instagram, but there are so many available it can be easy to get lost. You can change the order in which they appear, and even hide the ones you never use, to speed up your photo-sharing process. On the filters page, scroll to the end, tap Manage, then drag and drop the ones you want to reorder, and un-check the ones you want to hide. 11 useful Instagram features you didn't know existed Never miss a post Instagram controversially ditched its reverse-chronological order feed for a new order determined by an algorithm, making it easy to completely miss some posts. To make sure you never miss a certain somebody’s updates, you can set up notification for them by visiting their profile, tapping the three dots in the top right-hand corner and selecting Turn On Post Notifications. 11 useful Instagram features you didn't know existed Eat less data If you’re worried about how much of your mobile data Instagram saps, you can limit it by sacrificing the speed at which the photos and videos in your feed load. Go to your profile, tap the three dots in the top right corner, open Cellular Data Use and choose Use Less Data. 11 useful Instagram features you didn't know existed See your Likes It’s easy to lose track of your friends’ old posts on Instagram, but if you know you Liked it, you’ll be able to track it down easily. Just go to your profile, hit the three dots at the top and select Posts You’ve Liked. You can also save posts in a folder only you can see by tapping the bookmark icon underneath it. Take a look at everything you’ve bookmarked by tapping the same icon that sits near the top of your profile. 11 useful Instagram features you didn't know existed Find relevant hashtags Everyone knows you can expand the reach of your posts by using a number of relevant hashtags, but what those are aren’t always glaringly obvious. You can easily find the right ones for you by typing a keyword into Instagram’s search bar, selecting a hashtag from the list and swiping along the Related row that appears at the top of the screen. 11 useful Instagram features you didn't know existed Clear your search history Whatever your reasons are, you can clear your recent searches by going to your profile, hitting the three dots in the top right and selecting Clear Search History. To go a step further and hide your Suggested searches too, go to the search page, tap and hold the account you want to hide, and choose Hide from the pop-up window. 11 useful Instagram features you didn't know existed Hide photos you’re tagged in Tagged photos on Instagram aren’t as prominent as they are on Facebook, but anyone can still browse through other people’s pictures of you by visiting your profile and tapping the photo of you icon. If you’re tagged in a picture you don’t want other people to see, go to your profile, hit the photos of you icon, tap the three dots at the top of the screen and choose Hide Photos. 11 useful Instagram features you didn't know existed Secure your account Make your Instagram account much harder to hack by enabling two-factor authentication, a security feature that protects you even if your login details are stolen. Go to your profile, tap the three dots, open Two-Factor Authentication and toggle it on. 11 useful Instagram features you didn't know existed Share lots at once If you want to upload a bunch of related pictures and videos without flooding everyone else’s feed, you can shared them all as one post. Hit the + icon, select Gallery, choose Select Multiple, pick out up to 10 of the pictures and clips you want, tap Next and reorder them by dragging and dropping. 11 useful Instagram features you didn't know existed Record hands-free Instagram Stories has been a massive hit since it came out last year, but you might not know that you can record Stories clips without having to hold one of your digits on the record key. On the Stores screen, just swipe through the options at the bottom until you get to Hands-Free. 11 useful Instagram features you didn't know existed Edit posts after publishing Most people know you can delete any of the images you’ve already posted, but not everyone is aware that you can also edit them. Instagram unfortunately doesn’t let you tinker with filters and effects, but you can change your original caption, tag people and update the location. A spokesperson for Instagram was not immediately available for comment but the company tweeted an acknowledgement of the issue on Wednesday, 15 August. "We are aware that some people are having difficulty accessing their Instagram accounts," the company tweeted. "If you think you have been impacted, please follow our guidance to regain access." The Facebook-owned firm's official guidance for regaining access to a hacked account claim that Instagram users will be notified of any change of email address to their account via an email to the original address. "Please click the link marked 'revert this change' in the email, and then change your password," the guidelines state. "We advise you pick a strong password. Use a combination of at least six numbers, letters and punctuation marks... It should be different from other passwords used elsewhere on the internet."<doc-sep>"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 a spokeswoman.<doc-sep>
More and more Instagram users are being hit by a hack that sees their accounts taken over, leaving them unable to log in with their profile names changed. Some users have even reported that their profile photos have been replaced with images of random film stills, depicting characters from popular movies such as Despicable Me 3, Shrek 2, and Pirates of the Caribbean. Hundreds of disgruntled users affected by the hack have taken to other social media platforms such as Twitter , to report the dilemma. It's believed the hack stems from Russia, as the registered emails of the compromised accounts have changed to addresses originating from the Russian email provider mail.ru. "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," an Instagram spokesperson said in response to the flurry of atatcks. What's quite peculiar about the hack is that its authors have made not made any other demands and the affected accounts appear otherwise untouched. Users seem to have been experiencing the hacks since July, according to ongoing tweets complaining of the nuisance . According to social media tracker Talkwalker, there have been almost a thousand Twitter accounts reporting the same experience in just the past seven days. How to avoid being hacked Security researchers are advising that, to avoid your account being compromised, ensure that you have two-factor authentication (2FA) activated. 2FA is when code is sent to your phone before you can complete the log-in process. To do this, go to the settings option on your account (the cog in the top right-hand corner of your profile) and scroll down to "two-factor authentication" under Privacy and security. Toggle on the "Require security code" option. You will be asked to confirm your mobile number and will need to use your phone to set up this process. (Image: Getty) You will also be given the option of backup codes, which you need to save somewhere safe. These can be useful if you lose access to your phone number and can't receive the needed security code by text. However, Mark James, Security Specialist at ESET , said even turning on two-factor authentication, which should be a given for any social account if possible, will not protect your account completely as mobile numbers can be duplicated or intercepted, and codes can be spoofed to get around this protection. "We should protect ourselves against opportunistic attacks by not reusing passwords and ensuring any password we do use is strong, preferably [with] at least three random non-associated words with capital letters, special characters and if possible the odd 'space' thrown in for good measure," he said. If all that fails, and you still find yourself at the mercy of a hacked account, contacting Instagram is the only way to get your account back. What to do if you think you've been hacked If you can't gain access to your account at all, on the Log In screen click on 'Need more help', and log a request specifying that you think you've been hacked, when you last used your account, and any details you think could be relevant. You should then receive an email with a code - you'll need to write it on a piece of paper and take a photo of yourself with it to prove your identity. After that, it's a frustrating waiting game, with every reply taking over an hour to be seen. James said that while it can take a while to get resolved, to stay optimistic. (Image: Getty) "The creators of these apps and programs do want you to stay safe, they want to advertise a safe and pleasant experience while using these programs, so will try to help with any queries regarding the safety of your account," he said. He added that almost every measure app creators put in place to help could be compromised and actually be a barrier in some cases when trying to get the account back. "Proving you own an account when it 'seems' the details were changed legitimately may seem like your banging your head against a wall but stay calm, give as much info as possible and they will resolve it for you.”