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Instagram rolls out its own form of Security Awareness Training

Well this is nice, something we are not overly blessed with in the world of cyber security: Good news!

Security Awareness Training, Instagram style

Small as it may seem, a new feature introduced recently by Instagram represents a big step in the fight against cyber crime.

The Facebook owned social media app tweeted on Monday October 7th that users are now able to use a new feature which helps them verify whether an Instagram email is genuine or not.

Instagram tweet showing new feature on two different phone screens
Instagram’s tweet announcing the new feature

The hugely successful photo and video sharing service goes onto explain that users will find access to the new feature under their security settings. By clicking on “Emails from Instagram” the app shows them all emails Instagram has sent them in the last 14 days under two tabs, one pertaining to account security and the other to anything else.

A step in the right direction

This marks a huge step in the right direction by an organisation of such size. It is allowing the users to actively take ownership of their own email security.

Phishing attackers are becoming increasingly adept at getting past email security technology and it is time that users started educating themselves on what a phishing attack looks like. This way, when (not if) an email gets past a user’s security hardware they are able to visually check it and verify it’s authenticity.

In a statement from Instagram, a spokesperson said the new feature had been added as a response to phishing attackers becoming more skilled at fooling users.

Bad actors are getting better at imitating emails from Instagram, and it is becoming increasingly difficult for people to distinguish between a genuine email and a fake one,” an Instagram spokesperson said in a statement.

Instagram Spokesperson

From an end-user perspective, this is great news. At Phishing Tackle we have long been aware that Security Awareness Training is by far the fastest and most cost-effective method to reducing cyber risk. We also believe the cost should not be a barrier for any organisation and encourage our readers to check out how affordable we really are, it may just surprise you!

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