11/01/2026
๐๐ฌ๐๐๐ฅ ๐๐๐๐ฅ๐ง: ๐๐ก๐ฆ๐ง๐๐๐ฅ๐๐ ๐๐๐ง๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ข๐ก๐๐๐ฅ๐ ๐๐. ๐ง๐๐๐ฆ ๐๐ฆ ๐ช๐๐ฌ ๐๐ฉ๐๐ก ๐๐ซ๐ฃ๐๐ฅ๐ง๐ฆ ๐๐ฅ๐ ๐๐๐๐ก๐ ๐ง๐๐ฅ๐๐๐ง๐๐
On Friday, January 9, 2026 at 11:34 AM, a wellโknown Filipino bug bounty hunter a respected figure and cybersecurity expert publicly shared that his inactive Instagram account received an attempted login alert.
Let that sink in.
This is someone widely regarded as a guru in cybersecurity, with strong OPSEC practices. The idea that this happened due to weak security or negligence is extremely unlikely.
So I dug deeper.
๐๐ก๐๐ญ ๐ ๐
๐จ๐ฎ๐ง๐ (๐๐ข๐ฆ๐๐ฅ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐๐๐ญ๐ญ๐๐ซ๐ฌ):
Wednesday, January 7, 2026 โ 04:17 PM
A dataset titled:
โINSTAGRAM.COM โ 17M GLOBAL USERSโ
was reposted and updated on dark web forums.
๐๐จ๐๐๐ฒ โ ๐๐๐๐
๐๐๐๐๐
Security firm Malwarebytes has now confirmed the breach, reported by CyberInsider.
source: https://cyberinsider.com/malwarebytes-warns-of-instagram.../
โA data breach affecting ๐๐.๐ ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐๐ง๐ฌ๐ญ๐๐ ๐ซ๐๐ฆ ๐๐๐๐จ๐ฎ๐ง๐ญ๐ฌ has been confirmedโฆ the leaked data is already being shared freely on hacker forums.โ
๐๐๐๐ค ๐๐๐ญ๐๐ข๐ฅ๐ฌ:
Platform: instagram.com
Records: 17,000,000+ users
Format: JSON / TXT
Data exposed:
(Usernames. Full names, User IDs, Emails, Phone numbers, Country & partial location data)
๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐?
โ
Enable 2FA (Authenticator App, not SMS)
โ
Remove phone numbers from Instagram if not needed
โ
Change passwords even if you havenโt seen alerts yet
โ
Treat login warnings as real threats, not glitches
โ
Be extremely cautious with emails or DMs referencing โsecurity issuesโ
If this can happen to a cybersecurity expert, it can happen to anyone.
Share this. Someone you know may already be in that dataset and doesnโt realize it yet.
BEWARE! SPREAD! FOLLOW!