Security researcher Anurag Sen found the database unprotected and reported it to Tech Crunch, resulting in owners being notified and the database secured. Further research reveals that the database of the social media marketing company Chtrbox, a company that pays top account owners, links sponsor content influencers to its account. The database consists of tons of personal information belonging to tens of millions of Instagram influencers and includes their bio-profile picture, numbers of followers that they have if verified by city and country, and also private contacts such as their e-mail address and telephone number. Tech Crunch Revealed today. “Every record in the database includes a record which calculates the value of each account, based on the number of supporters, commitment, reach likes and shares they have. It was used as a methodology to determine how much the company could afford an Instagram celebrity or advertising influence. This incident occurred 2 years after a massive Instagram data violation caused by a bug in its developer API that enabled hackers to access email addresses and telephone numbers for 6 million Instagram accounts. “We are looking at whether the data described–e-mail and telephone numbers, including –were from Instagram or other sources,” an updated statement said. “We are also investigating with Chtrbox where the data came from and how the information became open to the public,” Facebook said in the statement of Tech Crunch.
