‘InstaAgent’ Malicious App Sends Instagram usernames and passwords to Unknown Server
According to a new report, InstaAgent is an app that connects to an Instagram account and promises to track visitors to a user’s profile. The report indicates that the app is storing the username and password of Instagram users, and is also sending that information to a remote server.
An app developer from Peppersoft downloaded InstaAgent — full name “Who Viewed Your Profile – InstaAgent” — and discovered it’s reading Instagram account usernames and passwords, sending them via clear text to a remote server – instagram.zunamedia.com.
Add to that, InstaAgent is also using that stored information to log into users’ accounts and post unauthorized images to their feeds.Instagram does not permit third-party apps to upload photos to user accounts.
While InstaAgent isn’t particularly popular in the United States, it is currently the number one free app in both the United Kingdom and Canada, with thousands of downloads that puts a huge number of Instagram users at risk of having their information stolen. In the Google Play store, the app had between 100k and 500k users, and the install numbers could be similar for iOS.
https://twitter.com/PeppersoftDev/status/664071915678654464
Google has removed the InstaAgent Android app from the Google Play store, but InstaAgent is still available in the iOS App Store for the time being. Anyone who has downloaded InstaAgent should delete the app immediately and change their Instagram password.
Passwords for other sites and accounts that were the same as the Instagram password should also be changed as a precaution. We also highly recommend a password management app like 1Password, which can generate unique complex passwords for each and every site or service. Instagram also advises against installing third-party apps that don’t follow its Community Guidelines.
There are dozens if not hundreds of third-party apps that promise to provide Instagram users with followers and other perks, and these kind of apps should be avoided. According to Instagram, these apps are “likely an attempt to use your account in an inappropriate way” as InstaAgent does.
Update 3:20 p.m : InstaAgent has now been removed from the iOS App Store.