For most online services, the only barrier that differentiate a user and an unauthorized person, is the knowledge of username and password combination.
It takes only a mere login credential, and anyone can log in, impersonate, ruin, and even steal data. Instagram knows this very well, and as one of the most popular social media networks in the market, it knows that its users are constantly in danger of hackers and other scammers.
This is why it is launching a feature it calls 'Security Checkup'.
In a blog post, Facebook as the owner of Instagram, said that:
What this feature does, is allowing users to review their profile information, confirming any other accounts that share its login information, and updating account recoveries contact information such as phone number or email.
Alongside that, Instagram also wants to make sure that users’ accounts are secure with several recommended steps:
- Enable two-factor authentication.
- Update phone number and email.
- Be aware of DMs.
- Report content and accounts users find questionable.
- Enable Login Request.
"Security Checkup is another way that we are working to keep Instagram accounts as secure as we can," Instagram said.
Instagram noted that it is seeing an increase of malicious actors trying to phish information from users, which can include, and not limited to, their account passwords.
These people often send DMs, or emails, and try to convince targets that they are on behalf of Instagram.
"They may tell you that your account is at risk of being banned, that you are violating our policies around intellectual property, or that your photos are being shared elsewhere," the company said. "These messages are often scams and violate our policies."
"Accounts that impersonate others, use their verification status to hack and target people or generally conduct spammy behavior with the hopes of misleading people on Instagram break our rules. We are constantly improving our technology to find and stop this behavior."
"We’ve also made significant updates to our Support Inbox, so you can find out the latest information about what’s happening with your reports, or find out if any of your posts are violating our policies. This includes being able to easily see the status of everything you’ve ever reported on Instagram, see what posts of yours may have broken our rules, and how to appeal those decisions. From there you can find much more information on the status of what you’ve reported to us."
With Security Checkup, Instagram is simply streamlining its platform's security feature.