Instagram is testing new ways to recover hacked accounts according to a report by Motherboard

The aim is to create a better experience for those people who have lost their accounts or found them hijacked for ransom. Adam Mosseri, the head of Instagram shared the news on Twitter:

This comes after numerous reports from users who have found their accounts hacked and struggled to regain access. The victims of hacking have also been struggling to get the support they need from the company. 

Instagram has finally acknowledged the problem and is making moves to solve it. The first of which will be a change to allow users to more easily sign in and reclaim their hacked account. 

Users will have a new option on the login page marked "Need more help". Clicking that will then require you to enter your email address or phone number associated with the hacked account. A six digit code will then be sent to allow you to get back into your hacked account.

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Alongside these changes, Instagram is also making some tweaks to the ways it handles usernames. It's far too common for people with popular or highly sought after usernames to find their accounts hacked to then be sold online to others.

The company is apparently making a change so usernames are "safe for a period of time after any account changes" to prevent other people claiming the username once account access is lost to hackers. 

These new features will be available on both iOS and Android soon and are coming as an addition to the current tools for handling hacking.