Although Instagram has a lot of security measures to help protect users, you can never be too sure about the digital world. Hackers and cybercriminals are on the rise, waiting for the perfect opportunity to exploit users and steal their sensitive and confidential data. Social media platforms are the perfect tools for hackers and malicious actors to trick users into divulging sensitive and confidential information through phishing scams. In other cases, they can even pretend to be you, create an account under your name, and use your pictures for catfishing others, and if they're using your account for spammy activities, it can even lead to an Instagram IP ban.
The good news is that as an Instagram user, there are different ways you can avoid these issues and protect your account to ensure that no one can exploit your personal and sensitive data. In this guide, we'll talk about the main reasons you must protect your Instagram account and what steps you can take from the Instagram app to ensure you can maintain your privacy on the platform. So, with that out of the way, let's begin.
You must keep your Instagram account safe and secure for various reasons, especially if you have a public account rather than a private one. The most important factors for you to consider include:
Your Instagram account contains sensitive and personal information such as your name, location, photos, and connections. Keeping your account secure helps prevent unauthorized access to sensitive and confidential information.
Cybercriminals can attempt to steal your identity by gaining unauthorized access to your Instagram account. They can use your sensitive and confidential information for fraudulent activities, like opening your bank accounts, applying for loans in your name, and using your personal details and pictures to pretend to be with you and catfish.
Your Instagram account gives people an insight into your personality, persona, and overall reputation. Suppose any unauthorised person gains access to your Instagram account. In that case, they can use your account to post inappropriate content, send malicious messages, and engage in toxic behaviour that can ultimately ruin your reputation.
Unauthorized access to your Instagram account can lead to various serious consequences, including control over your account, deleting all your content, and using your use for spam or spam identity to carry out phishing scams.
Instagram enables users to view who can view their stories and other types of content that they post. Securing your account allows you to maintain your desired level of privacy and control over who can watch and access your desired content.
Instagram isn't safer or more dangerous than any other social media platform. However, it should be noted that most social media platforms, including Instagram, often collect your personal and sensitive data to target you with specific ads and personalized recommendations. Instagram is also a gateway for scammers to target you by sending you DMs (direct messages) that seem legitimate but are usually sent to extort money out of you or to steal your sensitive and confidential information.
Take a look at Instagram's Privacy Policy. You will notice that they are collecting a lot of sensitive and confidential data about you, including the content you create, the messages you're sending and receiving, the apps and features you use, your app purchases, your GPS location, your IP address, etc.
Now that you know why it's necessary to secure your Instagram account and protect it from hackers and cybercriminals, here are some practical tips and strategies to ensure your Instagram account remains safe and secure. These strategies include:
One of the easiest ways to keep your Instagram account secure is to keep it private. This means you control who gets to follow you and who doesn't since you approve the following requests. Keeping your account private is a great way to have only those people on your following list who are your friends and family and whom you genuinely trust. If you have a public account and you'd like to make it private, here's how you can do it:
A VPN (Virtual Private Network) masks your IP address and encrypts your internet traffic, keeping your sensitive personal data safe and secure from malicious actors and other third parties. VPNs protect your personal and confidential data on Instagram, mainly if you use a public network. Since public networks are the most vulnerable to interception by malicious actors, a VPN keeps your account secure when scrolling Instagram on a public network.
It would help if you had strong and unique passwords for your Instagram account. A strong password consists of an uppercase letter, lowercase letter, special characters, and numbers. You should also enable Two Factor Authentication (2FA) on your Instagram account. Two-factor authentication helps protect your account by requiring a code if there's a login attempt from a device that Instagram doesn't recognize. Here's how you can enable Two Factor Authentication:
Instagram has also launched a Security Checkup feature that helps users keep their accounts safe and secure. Users can use the Security Checkup feature to keep their accounts secure if they get hacked. This includes checking the login activity, confirming all the accounts that share the login information, reviewing profile information, and updating account recovery contact information, such as your number or email.
If you feel that someone on Instagram is threatening you, you can easily block them. Blocking them means they won't be able to contact, message, or find your account. When you block these individuals, they will not be notified that you've blocked them. To block specific individuals, go to their profile, click the three-dotted icon on the top right, and then click Block.
Instagram has many privacy and security features to help protect users from getting their accounts compromised or malicious actors stealing their sensitive and confidential data. This guide details the most effective strategies that you can use to protect your Instagram account, especially using a VPN to ensure that your data remains safe and secure even when you're using a public network. Start implementing these security tips and witness all your privacy concerns wash away.