A few months ago Instagram rolled out the “Download Your Data” feature to comply with the new European data privacy regulations, General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Well, this helpful feature had a major bug that accidentally exposed user’s password and made it vulnerable. So here’s everything you need to know about the issue.
Instagram Bug Exposed Passwords: The Issue
Instagram and Facebook are two of the most popular social media platforms with billions of users across the globe. Both Instagram and Facebook have been in news this year due to many major security flaws.
The “Download Your Data” feature on Instagram allowed users to download their activity like recent posts, likes, and comments. As a security measure, Instagram asked users to re-enter their passwords.
Due to the security bug, these re-entered passwords were visible and even saved as plaintext in URL and were also saved on Facebook’s server, Instagram’s parent company.
According to Instagram, these saved passwords were recently deleted from Facebook’s server. In addition to that, every affected user was notified about the security bug. That said, a very small number of people were affected by this issue.
Instagram Bug Exposed Passwords: The Solution
Well, if you are one among those affected users its a wise decision to change your Instagram password and even delete your browser’s history. Furthermore, turning on two-factor authentication (2FA) will further secure your account.
Lastly, if you didn’t receive any notification about the security bug then your passwords are completely safe. That said if you still experience any weird activity with your account, you should definitely follow the above-mentioned security measures and secure your account.
According to Instagram, this security bug has been completely fixed now. Furthermore, any sort of information or password was not exposed to anyone else.
Do share your thoughts and opinions on the above-mentioned issues in the comments section below.
