In a post on its official blog this afternoon, Instagram announced that two-factor authentication is now live for all users. The update was part of a wide-ranging announcement from the company, which focused on “fostering a safer, kinder community.”
Instagram had previously announced it was working on two-factor authentication and had rolled it out to select users. Today’s update, however, makes the added security layer available to everyone.
In order to enable two-factor authentication, simply tap the settings icon in the upper-left corner, look under the “Account” list and tap the “Two-Factor Authentication” option. Once you enable this feature, you will be required to enter a code every time you try to log in to the application:
In addition to two-factor support, Instagram today has also announced that it will soon start blurring out sensitive photos and videos. As you can see in the screenshot above, sensitive content now requires you to specifically tap the “See Photo” option to prevent people from seeing things that they may find disturbing.
Lastly, Instagram today has also announced a new website that offers up tips on how users can keep their account safe, deal with harassment, and much more. The site makes it easy to access tools for account blocking, comment controls, and photo tagging. The new “Instagram Together” website can be found here.
Enabling two-factor authentication is something that we highly recommend as it makes it significantly harder for someone to improperly gain access to your account. The latest version of Instagram is available on the App Store for free.
