Your inbox chimes. An email from Instagram appears, bearing all the official hallmarks of authenticity—the verified domain, the proper formatting, the [email protected] sender address. 'Reset Your Password,' it reads. Your heart quickens. Did someone try to hack you? Have your years of photos and memories been compromised? You click through, follow the instructions, and hours later receive the identical email again.
This scene played out for millions of Instagram users starting around 4:00 to 5:00 AM EST on Wednesday, 8 January, and what initially appeared to be a technical glitch has now revealed itself as something far more alarming—a mass password reset notification that coincides with a staggering data breach involving 17.5 million Instagram accounts whose personal information is already being traded on the dark web.
