Hackers breached Instagram through a bug to get the phone numbers and email addresses of high celebrity profile with large number of followings.
This is probably how the hackers get into Selena Gomez’s Instagram account and shared nude photos of her ex-boyfriend Justin Bieber to her 125 million followers.
In a statement released on Wednesday, Instagram admitted that hackers have exploited an API bug to gain access to some of their user’s data.
“We recently discovered that one or more individuals obtained unlawful access to a number of high-profile Instagram users’ contact information – specifically email address and phone number – by exploiting a bug in an Instagram API.”
“Our main concern is for the safety of our community and, out of an abundance of caution, we are reaching out to all verified accounts. At this point we believe this effort was targeted at high-profile users,” the company said.
The company also warned verified accounts to be vigilant and expect for possible leak of their contact info.
“As always, we encourage people to be vigilant about the security of their account and exercise caution if they encounter any suspicious activity such as unrecognized incoming calls, texts and emails.”
Instagram said that the hackers did not access any account passwords and they quickly fix the bug.
Investigation is also underway.
