Instagram adds a second lock to its doors with two-factor authentication.
As the popularity of the giant company continues to grow, Instagram decides to double down on security with two-factor authentication. This initiative is meant to help prevent security breaches and will serve to reassure Instagram’s 400 million users, including celebrities and brands.
If you’re an active social-media user, you can’t deny the phenomenon of Instagram. Over the past few years, it has become one of the most dominant social network. According to some studies, 23% of American teenagers’ responses to the question ‘What’s your favorite social network?’ correspond to ‘Instagram’.
However, up to this point, logging into Instagram only required a user ID and password. TechCrunch is reporting that soon users will be able to opt for a temporary code to be texted to them, as a second step in the login process.
For those of you who are particular about their Instagram account’s security, then this is a feature you’ll want to check out.
Essentially, the two-step verification works like it does on any other platform. Once you activate it, Instagram will send a verification code to a phone number and once you put the code in, you’ll be able to access the account. This will ensure that should someone get access to your password and email ID for Instagram, they won’t be able to log in.
Moreover, this initiative is a long belated move by the service, which has become the photo sharing service of choice for many celebrities. Last year, Taylor Swift was the victim of a hack, where a user took over her account and posted several pictures that were later deleted when her team regained control of it. Without two-factor, they only had to change her password on Instagram.
Presently, the site lacks any firm security feature. Similar to Facebook, one cannot access others’ photos if the account is private. Also, Instagram doesn’t let anyone download the images. The service has been adopted by many major companies including Google, Facebook, and Twitter.
Athough the update hasn’t rolled out quite yet, we should keep an eye out for app updates. In the meantime, we can make sure that our backup email address and every other account we own is two-factored to the hilt.
That being said, the new measure is expected to be greeted with much enthusiasm by users of the picture based, social networking platform. Hopefully, the two-step verification feature will roll out to more users soon.
Image Source: iprex.com.
/cdn0.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/5997521/twitter.0.gif){kind=link}