Starting today, Instagram is introducing a new feature to help people secure their accounts following instances where they may have been hacked. Dubbed “Security Checkup,” the tool will prompt you to do things like check recent login activity, review your profile information and update your contact information in case you need to recover your account.
Notably, one thing it appears the tool won’t recommend is adding two-factor authentication (2FA) to your account, but that’s something Instagram says it “strongly” recommends. On that front, the company notes sometime in the next few weeks it will start allowing people in some countries to use their WhatsApp number to authenticate their accounts. The WhatsApp integration is similar to Instagram’s existing SMS authentication feature. Anytime you attempt to log into your account, you’ll need to input the six-digit code that’s set to you over WhatsApp.
Later in the same blog post, Instagram notes its seen an increase in recent months of malicious actors trying to phish sensitive information from people like their account passwords. “They may tell you that your account is at risk of being banned, that you are violating our policies around intellectual property, or that your photos are being shared elsewhere,” the company said. “These messages are often scams and violate our policies.” Instagram points out if it ever needs to contact you about your account, it won’t send you a direct message. Instead, you’ll find any communication from the company in the “Emails from Instagram” tab found in the app’s settings menu.