Yahoo Finance This Instagram security flaw could have exposed your phone number
Instagram parent company Facebook has confirmed that a security vulnerability could have put Instagram users’ personal information at risk, leaving them vulnerable to attack by malicious actors.
The vulnerability would have allowed hackers to access users’ phone numbers and therefore misuse this information, according to surveillance technology provider Digital Barriers CEO Zak Doffman.
“This data included users’ real names, Instagram account numbers and handles, and full phone numbers,” Doffman wrote in Forbes.
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“The linking of this data is all an attacker would need to target those users. It would also enable automated scripts and bots to build user databases that could be searched, linking high-profile or highly-vulnerable users with their contact details.”
An Israeli hacker, who goes by the Twitter handle @ZHacker13, discovered the security flaw in August and has since been patched by Facebook.
“There is no evidence that any user data has been exploited or abused using this vulnerability—but, then again, there is no evidence that it hasn’t,” Doffman said.
With access to a user’s phone number, hackers can leverage that to then access more information.
@ZHacker13 has tested the Instagram vulnerability following Facebook’s patch-up and has confirmed to Doffman that it has been fixed.
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