Instagram finally gets two-factor authentication

With millions of users trusting their photos and identities to Instagram, it’s no surprise that the Facebook-owned service is rolling out two-factor authentication. Although Instagram’s security is already fairly robust, this addition will create another blanket of security between users and those who might want to use accounts in an unauthorized and less-than-savory way.

Due to the large number of celebrities and high profile users (the top ten accounts all boast more than 30 million followers each), Instagram is a prime target for hackers who would seek to take over an account for monetization, mostly through product and brand placement. Although stolen Instagram accounts are by no means rampant, beefing up security measures definitely can’t hurt.

TechCrunch first noticed that Instagram was playing around with two-factor authentication last year. However, it looks like the social media platform is rolling out a very different methodology than what they were experimenting with in 2015. The previous model was fairly nontraditional, with reset codes that had to be screenshotted or written down. They apparently ditched this idea in favor of a more typical two-factor authentication system.

Instagram says they are rolling out this security measure very gradually, but we wouldn’t be surprised to see it available on every account within the next month or two. In the meantime, make sure you aren’t picking a cruddy password. Well… always do that, actually. And let us know your thoughts about this new two-factor authentication. Have you ever been a victim of account theft? Tell us your experience in the comments!