Instagram working on non-SMS, two-factor authentication: Report

Tech companies like Google and Facebook have already built tools to protect against the vulnerability of SMS-based two-factor authentication.

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Instagram lacked any two-factor protection until 2016. (Image: Bloomberg)

Facebook-owned Instagram is reportedly working on a non-SMS, two-factor authentication system that would work with security apps like Google Authenticator and generate a special login code in case of theft or hacking.

“We’re continuing to improve the security of Instagram accounts, including strengthening 2-factor authentication,” TechCrunch quoted an Instagram spokesperson as saying.

A prototype version of the updated two-factor feature in the Android version of Instagram’s Android application package (APK) code was discovered and tweeted about by an engineer named Jane Manchun Wong.

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Tech companies like Google and Facebook have already built tools to protect against the vulnerability of SMS-based two-factor authentication. Google has its Authenticator app that uses randomly generated numeric code with a strict time limit and Facebook now uses a similar tool built into the Facebook app itself.

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The photo-messaging app lacked any two-factor protection until 2016 when it already had 400 million users. Later that year, the company started rolling out two-factor authentication.