In this attack we show evidence of a valid data leak of random Instagram users (Phone Number, UserID, UserName, Full-Name).” With only 40 accounts we can link 840 phone numbers each week. “By opening 40 user accounts,” explained in his write-up, “we managed to get 143 Instagram random accounts details. “Since there is brute forced numbers,” he said, “and because ‘Sync Contacts’ is a feature that actually returns names based on that number, it should work.” I asked ESET’s Lukas Stefanko to give me his view of the exploit, providing detail and the POC. “With resource,” said, “I could build a large database of millions of Instagram users’ records.” He gave me stats as to how much processing he’d need to harvest millions of identities.
#Instagram hacking problem full
In each case, he returned the valid account details linked to the full phone number. I ran two tests with giving him incomplete numbers that would have up to 1,000 potential numbers. “In theory,” told me, “I can get all Instagram users’ details and phone numbers.” In theory because the limiting factor is processing-enumerating phone numbers and then running enough bots to overcome the three syncs per day. Again, there is no limit to the number of bots that can be run-40 or more can operate continuously on a single machine. That means each bot can return three users’ details each day. Instagram has limited syncing to three times per day per account. They pointed out to me that the exploit process is “complex,” but nonetheless did leave the platform open to abuse and put users at risk.
This means the platform’s security was being bypassed to provide phone and account numbers, linked to usernames and real names.įacebook confirmed to me that the vulnerability was genuine, that the exploit would enable a “bad actor” to connect phone numbers and user details, and that it has prompted changes to be made. The platform also emphasized the servers on which the data was found did not belong to Facebook-essentially it was a third-party leak of “old” Facebook data using a now defunct tool.īut an Israeli hacker going by the handle discovered a vulnerability with Instagram-part of the Facebook social media stable-that still opens up the same type of user data to abuse. Facebook defended the leak, claiming the data had been compiled before it disabled a search tool in the aftermath of Cambridge Analytica. An online database was discovered listing the phone and account numbers for 419 million users. Just a week ago, Facebook hit the headlines for weaknesses in its data security.
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