Instagram has presented the new Security Check, a functionality that allows us to secure our account and protect it from possible attackers who are trying to steal it.
Social media accounts are especially valuable to hackers, especially if they get their hands on them easily; for example, if we use the same password in several services and one of them has been hacked. In that case, it is very possible that they have managed to enter our Instagram account without us noticing.
To fight against this type of practice, Instagram today introduced a new functionality for users in Spain, which will help keep the account as secure as possible. The new Security Check will skip us if Instagram suspects that our account has been hacked, and as its name suggests, it will carry out a series of checks to make sure that no one else can enter.
First of all, it is to verify that our account has really been compromised. To do this, Instagram will display login activity, and ask us to confirm the accounts sharing login information; for example, if you happen to be a co-worker on a corporate or shared account.
Instagram’s new security check
You will also be asked to review your profile information, just in case the attacker has changed it, and you will also be asked to update contact information for account recovery, such as phone or email.
what can we do now
All this will be insufficient if we have not taken the necessary measures to protect our account. For this reason, Instagram has published these tips to fight against unwanted access.
For starters, it’s important to enable two-factor authentication. This can now be done using our phone number, or better yet, an authentication app like Google Authenticator. In addition, Instagram has announced that WhatsApp can be used for two-step authentication, using one account to confirm that we want to enter the other.
When we turn on two-factor authentication, we’ll get an alert every time someone tries to log in from a different device or browser than the one we’re using; the message will show the location and information of the device, and we can see a list of connected devices in the settings.
However, we must bear in mind that Instagram will not contact us by direct message, only through those alerts. Therefore, if we receive a message telling us that our account has been hacked and that we have to click on a link to recover it, for example, we would be facing a type of attack known as ‘phishing’.
Other than that, we should make sure to update our phone number and email, just in case they’ve been changed to someone else’s, or so Instagram can help us get our account back if someone does get in.
Finally, it always helps to report suspicious content and accounts, so that Instagram’s algorithms learn to detect hackers and spam accounts.
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