Facebook 'leaks' millions of Instagram passwords: Who is affected, what users should do and not do

Facebook 'leaks' millions of Instagram passwords: Who is affected, what users should do and not do

Information

Facebook 'leaks' millions of Instagram passwords: Who is affected, what users should do and not do

1 / 2 . Bad news for Facebook users continues. Just a day after the social networking giant admitted that it "unintentionally" uploaded email contacts of nearly 1.5 million of new users, Facebook has now revealed that it exposed millions of Instagram users' passwords in a data-security lapse. The password exposure is part of the security breach that was first reported last month by Krebs on Security. Admitting the security blunder, Facebook has said that the company it stored passwords of millions of users in plain text on its internal servers. However, at that time Facebook claimed that “hundreds of millions of Facebook Lite users” and “tens of millions of other Facebook users” have been affected. Incidentally, the company has chosen just to update the old blog post while making the new revelation. "This is an issue that has already been widely reported, but we want to be clear that we simply learned there were more passwords stored in this way," a Facebook spokesperson said in a statement. Here's all you need to know about this latest 'password leak' from Facebook ...The issue impacts millions of Instagram users

2 / 9. Issue impacts millions of Instagram users In the latest update to the blog post-Facebook says that it has discovered additional logs of Instagram passwords that were being stored in a readable format. The company now estimates that this issue impacted millions of Instagram users. Facebook and Instagram passwords were stored in plain text and searchable by thousands of Facebook employees.

3 / 9. Facebook and Instagram passwords were stored in plain text and searchable by thousands of Facebook employees. The archives with unencrypted user passwords found date back to the year 2012.

4 / 9. The archives with unencrypted user passwords found date back to the year 2012.How will a user know if his/her password was leaked: Facebook says it is sending emails to affected users.

5 / 9. How will a user know if his/her password was leaked: Facebook says it is sending emails to affected users. In the updated post-Facebook says: We will be notifying these users as we did the others. What Instagram users need to do ASAP: Change their passwords.

6 / 9. What Instagram users need to do ASAP: Change their passwords. What Instagram users should not do: Use their Instagram password for other online services.

7 /9. What Instagram users should not do: Use their Instagram password for other online services. How to change your Instagram password: You can change your password in your settings on Instagram.

8 / 9. How to change your Instagram password: You can change your password in your settings on Instagram.Facebook's password tip for users: Consider enabling a security key or two-factor authentication to protect your account.

9 / 9.Facebook's password tip for users: Consider enabling a security key or two-factor authentication to protect your account

 


Was this article helpful? Yes No
Thanks for your feedback!