The widespread hacking campaign that relied on simply asking Meta AI’s chatbot to take over a victim’s Instagram account appears to have continued even after the company said the issue had been resolved. Meanwhile, the company has been scrambling to secure the targeted accounts and alert victims.
Over the weekend, hackers claimed to be exploiting Meta’s AI support chatbot to take over several high-profile Instagram accounts. At the same time, a large number of people complained on social media that their Instagram accounts had been hacked, some of them with unique short user profile handles.
TechCrunch has seen examples of allegedly hacked handles featuring common forenames or names of countries, which can be then re-sold almost as collectibles in a gray market for so-called “OG handles.” Other victims of the hacking spree appeared to be the dormant Obama White House account (which Meta disputed), and the account of the U.S. Space Force’s chief master sergeant John Bentivegna.
These attacks were so simple that calling them hacks may be giving the people behind them too much credit, while at the same time not putting enough blame on Meta for not preventing rudimentary attacks from hijacking people’s accounts.
Hackers simply told Meta’s AI chatbot that they were the owners of the target’s account, and asked the bot to link that person’s account to an email they controlled. The chatbot complied with the request, allowing the hacker to reset the target account’s password and take control of the account — in some cases locking out the victims. At no point were Meta employees or contractors involved in the chat.
A screenshot that shows a successful takeover, posted in a Telegram group where hackers were sharing the technique, as well as bragging about their hacksImage Credits:TechCrunch/Screenshot /
On Monday, Meta spokesperson Andy Stone said that “the issue that did happen has already been fixed.”
On Tuesday, however, more Instagram users claimed to have had their accounts hacked.
At the same time, TechCrunch has seen discussions among members of a Telegram channel where the hacking technique had been publicized, who claimed to still be able to exploit Meta’s AI chatbot, and they were advertising a …