On Wednesday, Instagram said one or more hackers accessed email address and phone number information associated with certain high profile accounts.
The hackers used a previously known bug in the company’s API, which is used to facilitate cross app communication, to access the information. Instagram notes that the security flaw has been patched.
In a statement, the company said:
“We recently discovered that one or more individuals obtained unlawful access to a number of high-profile Instagram users’ contact information — specifically email address and phone number — by exploiting a bug in an Instagram API. No account passwords were exposed. We fixed the bug swiftly and are running a thorough investigation.”
The Facebook-owned photo sharing firm declined to say how many accounts were affected by the breach.
Although this has not been confirmed by Instagram, Variety suggests that the security breach could be related to Monday’s hack of Selena Gomez’s Instagram page. Gomez, who has 125 million followers, seems to have been targeted by a hacker who took over her page and posted nude photos of Justin Bieber. The company helped Gomez restore access and re-secure her account.
