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Facebook Stored Millions of Instagram Passwords in Plain Text

Facebook previously said it stored 'tens of thousands' of unencrypted Instagram passwords on its internal servers, but it was actually millions.

 & Michael Kan Principal Reporter

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Facebook on Thursday revealed that it accidentally stored "millions" of Instagram user passwords in plain text.

The disclosure comes a month after it admitted to accidentally storing "hundreds of millions" of unencrypted user passwords on the social network's internal servers. At the time, Facebook said the problem only affected "tens of thousands" of Instagram users. But it was wrong.

"We now estimate that this issue impacted millions of Instagram users. We will be notifying these users as we did the others," Facebook said in an update to its original post on the incident.

How many users were affected isn't clear. The company told PCMag it doesn't have precise numbers to share. "This is an issue that has already been widely reported, but we want to be clear that we simply learned there were more passwords stored in this way," a Facebook spokesperson said in an email.

According to Facebook, the company has uncovered no evidence of abuse or leaks with the stored credentials. Still, it's a good idea for affected users to change their passwords to stay safe.

Under the best security practices, companies should be storing passwords not in plain text, but through a method called hashing, which can effectively scramble the sensitive data into an unreadable format. So in the event a breach occurs, the hashing can prevent, or at least delay, a hacker from quickly exploiting the data.

So far, Facebook hasn't revealed how long it had been storing the Instagram passwords in plain text, what caused it, or how many employees may have had access to the information.

For added protection, Instagram users can consider activating two-factor authentication on their account, which will prevent unauthorized logins in the event a hacker successfully guesses or steals their password.

About Our Expert

Michael Kan

Michael Kan

Principal Reporter

My Experience

I've been a journalist for over 15 years. I got my start as a schools and cities reporter in Kansas City and joined PCMag in 2017, where I cover satellite internet services, cybersecurity, PC hardware, and more. I'm currently based in San Francisco, but previously spent over five years in China, covering the country's technology sector.

Since 2020, I've covered the launch and explosive growth of SpaceX's Starlink satellite internet service, writing 600+ stories on availability and feature launches, but also the regulatory battles over the expansion of satellite constellations, fights with rival providers like AST SpaceMobile and Amazon, and the effort to expand into satellite-based mobile service. I've combed through FCC filings for the latest news and driven to remote corners of California to test Starlink's cellular service.

I also cover cyber threats, from ransomware gangs to the emergence of AI-based malware. In 2024 and 2025, the FTC forced Avast to pay consumers $16.5 million for secretly harvesting and selling their personal information to third-party clients, as revealed in my joint investigation with Motherboard.

I also cover the PC graphics card market. Pandemic-era shortages led me to camp out in front of a Best Buy to get an RTX 3000. I'm now following how the AI-driven memory shortage is impacting the entire consumer electronics market. I'm always eager to learn more, so please jump in the comments with feedback and send me tips.

The Best Tech I've Had:

  • My first video game console: a Nintendo Famicom
  • I loved my Sega Saturn despite PlayStation's popularity.
  • The iPod Video I received as a gift in college
  • Xbox 360 FTW
  • The Galaxy Nexus was the first smartphone I was proud to own.
  • The PC desktop I built in 2013, which still works to this day.

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