Instagram security breach: 17.5 million accounts at risk

By Gazette Staff

January 10th, 2026

BURLINGTON, ON

Malwarebytes discovered that hackers stole the sensitive information of 17.5 million Instagram accounts. Complete with usernames, physical addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, and more, this data can be abused by cybercriminals to impersonate trusted brands, trick users, and steal their passwords.Critically, this data is already being offered on the dark web, with individual users also receiving legitimate password reset notifications from Instagram.

What to do:

• Beware of emails and messages that claim to come from Instagram, as they could be sent by malicious hackers trying to trick you into handing over your password.
• If you’re concerned, sign into your Instagram account and reset your password to a new, strong, unique password.

Check if you were exposed:  With a free scan from Malwarebytes’ Digital Footprint Portal, you can see if you were included in the Instagram breach. Simply enter the email address you used to register with Instagram and our Digital Footprint scan will report your level of exposure online.

Click HERE to access the Digital Footprint Portal

The Gazette has been using Malwarebytes to secure our data.  It has served us very well.