Instagram, in an important update, will now allow users to verify their account with their respective phone numbers, so, if anyone tries to login into your account with your email address and password, a text notification will be sent immediately along with an authentication code that must be entered to gain access to the account. The company said that this update is rolling out ‘slowly’ to users. With a lot of Instagram hacking attacks coming to light lately, this update is indeed a welcome move.
According to a report by TechCrunch, hackers need more than your email and password that could be guessed, stolen, or tricked out of you with a phishing scam. The new tool is said to be ‘long overdue’ for Instagram. Instagram’s parent company Facebook, introduced two-factor authentication almost five years ago. This proves to be beneficial especially for celebrities as getting hacked could scare away followers, squandering promotional opportunities. And for brands, it can damage their reputation with the public and hurt sales.
Instagram also officially introduced multi-account support inside the app, with which users could maintain more than one account on the same device. The new feature was made available in the version 7.15 of the app, which allows users to have up to five accounts logged in one device. In addition, Instagram also brought back the ‘Peek’ feature to Android devices. This feature allows users to simply peek at an image by long pressing on the screen, thus saving the need to open it. The company had previously launched this feature but it was taken down for unknown reasons. We certainly hope that this feature is here to stay.
Have you received the two step authentication update yet? How eager are you to get it? Let us know through the comments section below or through our social media channels.