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Instagram has become one of the few ways celebrities can interact with their entire communities of fans. However, any wrong move and the social media will turn to backlash and ruin an international reputation in a day. Therefore, Instagram’s high-profile users have to be extra careful not to have their accounts hacked. Unfortunately, this worst case scenario has just happened.
Cyber Attackers Stole Contact Information
Facebook’s latest visual social media platform warned verified account users that there’s a new threat targeting them. At least one person has infiltrated a bug in the system that was created specially to steal contact information for celebrities.
On Wednesday, Instagram announced through a statement that the company succeeded to take the bug down. However, the investigation is just getting started. The organization has to learn how the situation escalated so badly. This way, they will make sure this won’t happen again.
The company claimed that hackers gained access to their database by exploiting a bug in an Instagram API. Once officials noticed the system breach, they managed to fix the bug instantly. While there were no passwords exposed, cyber attackers did steal phone numbers and email addresses from high-profile users on Instagram.
“Our main concern is for the safety and security of our community.”
Instagram Believes Hackers Targeted High-Profile Users Only
The company believes the operation was intended for famous Instagramers only. Nonetheless, they didn’t reveal the identity of the possible or affected targets. The organization is still investigating the case, even though the bug was taken down.
There are numerous musicians, actors, and top models that love using the photo and video sharing application. Selena Gomez is at the moment the number one followed celebrity with a community of 125 million followers.
However, there are lots of other celebrities whose posts are welcomed by thousands of hundreds of people. Some of them are Taylor Swift, Beyonce, Justin Bieber, Kim Kardashian, and Ariana Grande.
At the start of this week, some hackers gained access to the account of Selena Gomez. It is unclear if this operation is connected to Instagram’s announcement. Nonetheless, nude photos of Gomez’s ex-boyfriend, Justin Bieber, appeared on social media. Since then, the photos disappeared, and Selena’s account is safe once more.
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