India, Jan. 12 -- Millions of Instagram users may face online risks after a large set of personal data linked to the platform surfaced on hacker forums and dark websites, according to a report by cybersecurity firm Malwarebytes. The firm said it discovered data related to about 17.5 million Instagram accounts during routine monitoring of underground platforms. Now that the information is in circulation and on sale, concerns about misuse have been raised.

Malwarebytes reported that the exposed records include usernames, full names, email addresses, phone numbers, partial physical addresses, and other contact details. While there is no indication that account passwords were part of the leak, the available data could still enable misuse.

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