Phishing in Netflix, YouTube, and Other Streaming Platforms Increases by more than 600% Amidst Lockdown

Phishing attacks are increasing rapidly worldwide as hackers use this kind of cyberattack to access millions of users' data. Surprisingly, hackers have discovered a new way of targeting people's information, and this time streaming services are on their hit list.

Different streaming services like Netflix, YouTube, HBO, etc. have become easy targets for hackers. They are deceiving subscribers of these platforms through phishing attacks. Furthermore, they rely on such attacks to obtain people's private information, including usernames, passwords, credit card details, banking data, etc.

As per Webroot, a cybersecurity organization, phishing, and data theft attacks have increased by more than 60% during July 2020 compared to the month of the last year in July 2019.

The story does not end here as phishing also surged by 646% during the lockdown period (March 2020 - July 2020). Likewise, the report published on Independent highlighted that hackers have also started targeting Twitch, a famous online gaming platform apart from Netflix, YouTube, and HBO. As a result, users' data on these platforms are prone to different security threats like hacking, data theft, etc.

If we talk about other platforms like YouTube, the popular streaming service has gathered the highest number of phishing-related URLs. These URLs entice people into assuming that they are legitimate sites, and visiting them does not raise any privacy concerns.

YouTube witnessed a huge 3064% spike in phishing since February 2020. Similarly, other services such as Twitch and HBO experienced a massive 337% and 525% increase in phishing attacks in February 2020.

Streaming Activity Surged During the Lockdown

Due to the coronavirus crisis, people had to stay in their homes for almost six months. Consequently, they subscribed to different streaming platforms that help them pass their leisure time effectively. This trend became a blessing in disguise for online streaming services such as YouTube, Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Disney Plus, and Hulu.

These platforms were smart enough to increase their revenues considerably as over-the-top-streaming hours increased up to 82.5% during April 2020 throughout the US. Therefore, hackers also took full advantage of this lockdown situation and targeted users of all these services with phishing emails that allowed them to keep an eye on their personal information.

According to Senior Threat Researcher of Webroot, Kevin Murray, hackers deceive people by sending them phishing emails that focus on improving grammar, spelling, and other attributes.

Types of Phishing Attacks

Subscribers of different streaming services need to look out for various kinds of phishing, including:

• Malware
• Content Injection
• Link Alteration

Malware

Hackers target users through numerous types of malware attacks like viruses, trojan, and others. In reality, a malicious link is sent to users via email, and when you click on it, a malware attacks your device instantly.

Content Injection

Content injection is another kind of phishing in which attackers alter some part of website content that redirects users to phishing websites.

Link Alteration

Users receive emails on their inboxes that contain dangerous links that look legitimate, but they redirect them to malicious websites.

How to Secure Yourself from These Threats

Hackers have also targeted New Zealand users with Netflix email scams in the past as the US. They sent phishing emails to Netflix users based in New Zealand, indicating that they need to update their account information, including the billing method information. Otherwise, they will lose their Netflix membership permanently.

There is a link provided in the email that redirects users to a webpage blocked by MediaWorks servers. If you are a Netflix New Zealand user, you should use a reliable VPN for New Zealand to protect your Netflix account and your personal billing information from different forms of phishing attacks within the country successfully.

Wrapping Up

Securing your online streaming accounts from phishing and other kinds of cybersecurity risks is in your own hands. You should use a VPN no matter which streaming service you are currently using. Once you have activated a VPN service on your device, you can enjoy secure and anonymous streaming online from anywhere.

As the coronavirus pandemic continues globally, the number of subscribers will increase with each passing day so do the cyberattacks. Thus, the role of VPN and other online privacy tools will come in handy to secure all the famous streaming services’ users from the prying eyes of cyber goons in the future.