Prathap Ilango, a 20-year old cyber security researcher and a student of Hindusthan College of Engineering & Technology, Coimbatore identified a serious vulnerability in Instagram that can crash the comments section of millions of users, and intimated it to Instagram a few months ago. Acknowledging that it was indeed a critical issue, the company fixed the flaw and honoured Prathap recently.

A certified ethical hacker, Prathap found that due to a certain flaw in the Instagram app, a cyber attacker can upload a type of GIF file in the comments section of any Instagram user and make the user's page and anyone who comments on that page crash repeatedly.

He intimated Insta about this vulnerability on July 18, 2024. The Meta-owned Social Networking site understood that the seriousness of this vulnerability, and it didn't just fix the issue and thank Prathap but gave him an undisclosed bounty (a cash reward) and also included him in its Meta Security Researchers Hall of Fame page.

Prathap hails from Karaikudi and is involved in cybersecurity research. He is currently in his B.E. final year.