A recent wave of Instagram users was terrified—an endless stream of password reset emails flooded in, turning inboxes into breeding grounds for phishing scams. The culprit behind this has been exposed: a complete data package of over 17.5 million users (including usernames, emails, phone numbers, and physical addresses) was listed at a price on the dark web by hackers.

Security research organizations trace the root cause to an API vulnerability in a major social media platform in 2024. Even more concerning, the platform has yet to issue an official statement. This is not an isolated incident—looking back at history, the 2017 celebrity data leak and the 2022 leak of 533 million records, which resulted in a 2 billion yuan fine, all stem from "single points of failure" in centralized databases.

What can hackers do with this data? Precise phishing and account theft are basic operations, potentially extending to offline harassment. Imagine how it feels when your address is sold...

**Emergency Self-Help Three-Step Plan:**

**Step 1: Enable Two-Factor Authentication Immediately** Preferably use an authenticator app (like Google Authenticator, Authy). Never rely on SMS codes—SIM swapping incidents happen all the time.

**Step 2: Reset Your Password** This is basic, but don’t be lazy and reuse the same password across platforms. If one platform is compromised, others will follow.

**Step 3: Be Wary of Unknown Links** When you see a password reset email, stay calm, verify the sender before clicking, and don’t panic into clicking on something urgent.

**Where is the fundamental problem?** Centralized storage is like putting all your eggs in one basket—if the basket is broken into, everything is lost. More and more people are turning to decentralized solutions, where data is encrypted, split, and stored across globally distributed nodes. Any single point of attack won’t give access to the full information. Coupled with permission management mechanisms, users truly control the flow and usage of their data.

This leak once again proves: waiting passively for platforms to protect your privacy is not as good as taking control of your data sovereignty. Privacy protection has no pause button—set your account security to the maximum today.