Feature is currently in testing, will be launched soon

Feb 17, 2016 19:20 GMT  ·  By

Five years after it launched and 400 million users later, Instagram has decided to add two-factor authentication (2FA) to user accounts, which will make it much more difficult to hijack the profiles of careless users.

The feature is still in testing and is probably destined for a slow release as bugs will be knocked off and the 2FA service optimized.

Once available to everyone, 2FA will allow users to secure their normal Instagram account with a second level of protection, besides the username and password combo.

Users who decide to turn on Instagram's 2FA feature will have to associate a phone number with their account. Every time they log in from a different device, Instagram will send them an authentication code via SMS.

After logging in with their regular username and password, each user must also enter this SMS code to be granted access to their profile. Users who fail to provide this second level of authentication will be considered threat actors and will be prevented from accessing the account.

If all tests go through well and Instagram launches the feature, the company will be joining a select group of online services that provide this stronger method of protecting their users' accounts.

2FA has slowly started to become the norm, and in recent years, if you spend enough time reading through user comments on security articles, you'll see regular people asking for 2FA from various companies.

A screenshot of how 2FA currently looks in Instagram's mobile apps can be viewed below, courtesy of Anthony Carbone, one of the people included in Instagram's 2FA tests.

2FA screens for Instagram iOS app
2FA screens for Instagram iOS app

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Instagram to add 2FA support
2FA screens for Instagram iOS app
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