Tech
Hackers say Instagram’s plan to kick them offline will not succeed
Picture and video sharing social media site Instagram is making an apparent effort to seize the initiative after a massive data hack, but the hackers say the plan to kick them offline will never succeed.
On Thursday, hackers launched a searchable database of email addresses and phone numbers for a slew of high-profile Instagram accounts, as The Daily Beast first reported.
Soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo, the official POTUS Instagram, and several pop stars are all among the affected users, and the hackers’ site, dubbed “Doxagram,” also hosts details on more ordinary Instagram accounts.
Read also: Account of Twitter user shut down over death threat on a mosquito
In all, the hackers claim to have information on over 6 million users.
Along with its parent company Facebook, Instagram has seemingly registered hundreds of different Doxagram domains, according to online records.
The tactic is likely an attempt to force the hackers’ website offline, or at least make spreading the exposed data more difficult, with Instagram essentially wrestling control over any relevant domains before the hackers can.
This way, when one domain company cuts off service to the hackers, they’ll have fewer options for making websites with the Doxagram brand—without a domain that explicitly includes “Doxagram,” such as doxagram.org, those hoping to dig through celebrities’ Instagram data may have a harder time finding the site.
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