Protect Your Business Series: How to Keep Your Business Instagram Account Safe

Instagram has evolved from a simple photo-sharing app into a popular social platform that connects 2 billion monthly active users. Its popularity has made it a powerful tool for sales, marketing, and branding for businesses of all sizes. According to a recent Hootsuite report, 81% of consumers on Instagram use the platform to research products before making a purchase.

In 2023, 80% of global marketers used Instagram to promote their businesses, making it the second most popular social media platform for advertising. From a marketing standpoint, Instagram holds more influence than LinkedIn, YouTube, X (formerly Twitter), and TikTok.

While most business owners take advantage of what Instagram has to offer, not all are aware of the potential threats. According to a Better Business Bureau study, 40% of total online fraud reported involve victims who encountered fraudulent ads on Facebook and Instagram. This figure increases to 70% for victims who were not actively searching for a product but ended up losing money in a transaction.

If your Instagram business account is hacked or impersonated, it may take time to recover it. During this period, your reputation—and consequently your sales—may suffer.

Real-life story

 A nightmare – they lost their Instagram account in seconds.

In September 2024, the JustNowNews team experienced a damaging hack of their business Instagram account. The incident occurred when their editor unknowingly clicked on a phishing email that appeared to be legitimate. The email had the subject line "A New Update About Your Account," claiming they were eligible for a blue badge and inviting them to confirm their eligibility by filling out a verification form. Within moments, the account was disabled, and they were locked out.

Shortly after, the hacker sent them an email demanding a ransom in exchange for their account. They made it clear: pay or lose access permanently.

Threats Business Owners Should Be Aware of on Instagram

One of the most common threats on Instagram is when hackers take over a popular account and sell it to someone else. If this happens to your business account, you might first notice that a stranger is posting random or even inappropriate content. From there, the situation usually gets worse.

Your followers will see these strange posts, and some may unfollow your account out of frustration. Even if they don't, having your account hacked can make customers question the security of your business. They may start to wonder if their data is safe when they message you or if it's secure to buy from your Instagram shop.

While you can reassure customers and work to regain their trust, this process takes time. In the meantime, the damage to your reputation could hurt your business and sales.

Intellectual Property (IP) Infringement

IP infringement happens when someone copies your protected content without permission. On Instagram, this can come in the form of copyright or trademark infringement. Copyright infringement involves users sharing photos, written content, music, or other materials they don't own. Trademark infringement occurs when someone uses your logos, brand phrases, or other identifiers as their own.

Not all infringement is intentional—some users may not realize that reposting a photo or using a brand name without permission is illegal. Regardless of intent, all IP infringement on Instagram is illegal and can harm your brand if left unresolved.

Counterfeit Products

Counterfeit products are often sold on Instagram by scammers who use stolen content to trick buyers into thinking they're purchasing from a legitimate brand. Once they receive poor-quality goods, consumers often blame the real brand, harming your reputation even though you're not responsible. 

Fake Ads, Campaigns, and Comments

Scammers create fake ads, campaigns, or comments containing hidden links that direct users to fake websites made to look like real businesses. Once on these scam sites, customers may be tricked into making a purchase, believing they're dealing with a legitimate brand.

Because these fake ads and campaigns use hidden links, they can be hard to spot, especially on mobile devices.

Impersonation Accounts

Fraudsters often steal photos, logos, and content to create fake profiles that mimic legitimate businesses. These counterfeit accounts pose a significant threat to the brands they imitate. If you encounter an account impersonating your business, report it immediately to have it removed.

Account Takeovers

These takeovers often happen after phishing attacks, where a hacker tricks you into clicking a malicious link, sharing login details, or filling out a form. Once they gain access, hackers can change passwords, post inappropriate content, or demand ransom in exchange for returning the account.

How to Keep Your Instagram Business Account Safe

Take these measures to protect your Instagram business account:

1. Choose a Secure Password. Hackers often move on to easier targets if your password is hard to crack. A secure password should include a mix of uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers, and symbols. Avoid predictable choices like your business name or zip code, and opt for random combinations instead.
2. Use Two-Factor Authentication (2FA). With 2FA enabled, Instagram will send a unique security code to you each time you try to log in. You'll need both your password and the code to access your account. This makes it significantly harder for hackers to break in, even if they have your password.

To enable 2FA, go to your Instagram settings, tap on "Security," ->  "Two-Factor Authentication." You can select how you want to receive the security code: via WhatsApp, an authentication app, or directly to your phone.

3. Monitor Login Attempts

By enabling this feature, Instagram will notify you whenever someone tries to access your account from a new device or browser.

To turn on login alerts, go to your Security Settings ->  select "Additional Methods," where you'll find the option for "Login Requests." With this feature activated, you'll get an alert every time there's a new login attempt. You can also review your account's login activity under the "Logins" section of your security settings.

4. Log Out of Your Account

While most hackers target accounts online, if your phone is stolen, it would be easy for someone to access your Instagram account if you're still logged in. To avoid this, log out every time you leave the app, especially if you're not using a password-protected device.

5. Register Your Intellectual Property

Protecting your intellectual property (IP) is crucial for safeguarding your brand. Registering your business's trademarks and copyrights ensures that you legally own your brand content, making it easier to take down infringing accounts or content quickly. While registering trademarks and copyrights involves a fee, it's worth the investment for long-term brand protection.

6. Monitor Your Brand Name on Instagram

Spoof accounts that remain active for too long can damage your business's reputation. Stay ahead of scammers by regularly monitoring your brand name, logos, and other identifiers on Instagram using the Business Assets Exposure tool included in Bitdefender Ultimate Small Business Security.

It keeps an eye on your important business info like your email, credit cards, and social media accounts, and when it detects suspicious activity, it lets you know. This way, you can quickly spot and report infringements before they cause significant harm.

Related: How to Secure Your Facebook Business Page From Hackers

Reputation Protecting Tools for Your Business on Instagram

Instagram offers various privacy and security features to protect your business account from abuse, bullying, spam, and inappropriate comments.

Here's what you can do to protect your account:

1. Restrict Users

When you restrict someone, their comments won't appear on your posts unless you approve them, and their direct messages will go to your pending inbox.

How to:

• Go to your profile, tap the three dots in the top right corner, and select "Restrict." You can also manage restrictions in your settings under "Privacy."

2. Block People

Blocking someone prevents them from interacting with your account entirely, including commenting, liking, and messaging.

How to:

• Go to your profile, tap the three dots in the top right corner, and select "Block." Alternatively, you can block users by going to your settings, selecting "Privacy," then "Blocked Accounts," and adding users there.

3. Tags and Mention Settings

You can control who is allowed to tag or mention your business in their posts or stories, helping to prevent unwanted associations.

How to:

• Go to your settings, tap "Privacy," then "Tags" or "Mentions," and select who can tag or mention your account (everyone, people you follow, or no one).

4. Filter Comments

Instagram automatically filters out inappropriate, offensive, or bullying comments. You can also manually filter specific words, phrases, or emojis to hide comments that contain them.

How to:

• Go to your settings, select "Privacy," then "Hidden Words," and toggle on "Hide offensive comments." To manually filter certain words, phrases, or emojis, use the "Custom Words" option.

5. Decide Who Can Comment on Your Posts

How to:

• To limit who can comment on your posts, go to "Privacy," then "Comments." From there, you can select who is allowed to comment on your posts. To turn off comments for a specific post, go to the post, tap the three dots, and choose "Turn Off Commenting."

6. Direct Message Settings

You can control who is allowed to send direct messages to your business account, reducing the chance of spam, scams or unwanted communication.

How to:

• Go to your settings, tap "Privacy," then "Messages." From there, you can choose who can send you messages (everyone, people you follow, or no one). You can also control who can add you to group conversations.

7. Stop Fake Followers

Fake followers can harm your business's credibility. You can easily identify and remove potential spam followers.

How to:

• Go to your profile and tap your follower list. Look for "Potential spam" and tap it. Select "Remove all spam followers" and confirm by tapping "Remove."

8. Stop Spam on Instagram Business

To avoid receiving spammy comments or message requests, you can use Instagram's spam protection tools.

How to:

• Go to your profile and tap the three bars in the top right corner. Tap "Settings," then "Privacy." Scroll down to "Hidden Words," and toggle on "Hide comments" and "Hide message requests." You can also type in specific words or phrases to block.

9. Report Negative Experiences

If your business encounters abuse, blackmail, bullying, harassment, or spam on Instagram, you should report the incidents to Instagram for further action.

How to report:

• Tap the three dots next to the post, comment, or profile in question, and select "Report." Follow the prompts to describe the issue.

Related: 8 Ways to Protect Your Very Small Business Reputation Online

Stay safe with Bitdefender Ultimate Small Business Security

Protecting your brand on Instagram involves preventing scammers and hackers from exploiting your content and damaging your reputation.

To safeguard your business, consider utilizing software that identifies impersonators, counterfeit websites, domains, and scams, phishing attempts and helps you monitor your business's and each employee's digital identity.

Bitdefender Ultimate Small Business Security is here to help you with comprehensive protection designed specifically for small businesses. Here's what it offers:

• Phishing and Email Protection stops phishing scams and fraudulent emails before they reach your inbox.
• Malware Defense keeps your Windows PCs, Macs, iPhones, Android phones, and Windows servers safe from malware, including ransomware.
• Password Manager helps you create strong passwords and keeps them secure.
• VPN provides unlimited VPN traffic for you and your employees to keep all your remote connections safe.
• Scam Copilot uses AI to help your team spot scams and avoid threats while boosting your cybersecurity skills.
• Business Assets Exposure keeps an eye on your important business info, like your email, credit cards, and social media accounts. If any of this information gets caught up in a data breach, you'll get a notification. Once you've set it up, you can check if you, your employees, or your business have been part of any data leaks. You'll learn about the breach, the service it happened on, and what kind of information was exposed (like your email or username).

Bitdefender Ultimate Small Business Security is an easy-to-use, all-in-one, affordable solution that protects your business.

FAQs

What's the difference between personal and business Instagram accounts? 

An Instagram business account is designed for marketing and business purposes, offering features that build brand authority and make it easier to promote your business. With a business account, you gain access to tools for analyzing Instagram activity, running ads, and managing interactions with your audience.

Is Instagram worth it for small businesses? 

Yes, Instagram is a valuable platform for small businesses, providing a space to connect with customers, showcase products or services, and build brand loyalty. The visual nature of Instagram makes it ideal for businesses looking to engage audiences with creative content.

Which account is best for business on Instagram? 

For businesses, it's best to create a Professional > Business account rather than a personal or creator account. A business account offers the most useful features, such as analytics, advertising options, and tools to grow your audience and boost sales.

How can businesses ensure their Instagram accounts remain secure, especially when multiple team members have access? 

To keep accounts secure when multiple team members are involved, use tools like two-factor authentication, limit access to trusted devices, monitor login attempts, and regularly review account activity. Also, restrict admin permissions to essential users only.

What are the common signs that an Instagram account might have been compromised? 

Signs of a compromised account include unexpected changes to account details (email or password), unusual posts or messages that the user didn't send, reports from followers about strange activity, or notifications of login attempts from unknown devices.

How can a security solution like Bitdefender Ultimate Small Business Security help resolve Instagram security issues? 

Bitdefender Ultimate Small Business Security offers real-time monitoring for suspicious activities and alerts users to potential threats. It provides tools for quick responses to account breaches and adds an extra layer of protection, safeguarding your digital assets—such as email, website, and social media—from hackers, phishing attempts, and other security risks.