A site is reportedly selling people’s personal information after an Instagram breach was announced Wednesday, according to an Ars Technica report published Friday.
Instagram, the social media platform purchased by Facebook for $1 billion in 2012, announced Wednesday that high-profile accounts were hacked, leaving email addresses and phone numbers vulnerable to stealing. Although the connection has not yet been confirmed, Selena Gomez’s Instagram account, which is the most followed in the world, was infiltrated, causing nude photos of her ex-boyfriend Justin Bieber to surface.
Ars Technica says it reached out to the site after a reader highlighted the database purportedly showing people’s identifiable information. The operator provided the tech publication with a sample of 10,000 records, which is included in the searchable website. While the authenticity of the database has not yet been confirmed, all signs seem to show its credible, according to Ars Technica, which collaborated with a respected security researcher. Anyone wishing to acquire an Instagram user’s personal data only has to pay $10.
A large majority of the sample of records include phone numbers or emails, with roughly half including both. Some of the users enumerated, which were able to be verified after a relatively quick search, had millions of followers, at least partially showing their high stature, whether in social media or larger society.
Instagram said in a statement earlier in the week that it “fixed the bug swiftly and are running a thorough investigation,” but much of the damage may have already been done.
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