Netflix, Spotify and EA are among the most hacked online accounts - here’s how to protect yourself

With high profile online data breaches becoming increasingly common, security when using the internet is a significant concern among web users today.

And while you may feel inclined to trust the larger digital brands to spend more on ensuring that their users are safe, this is not always the case.

An investigation by internet security experts DynaRisk has found that some of the world’s biggest online are among the accounts most commonly hacked by cyber criminals. Among those most often accessed illegally are Netflix, Spotify and EA, according to the report.

Six hundred different brands were investigated by DynaRisk, which found that gaming, streaming and pornography sites were some of the most targeted by hijackers.

Other sites that frequently fell victim to security breaches include retail giant Amazon, Facebook and the Xbox and Sony entertainment websites.

The most targeted websites

1. Riotgames.com2. Netflix3. Spotify.com4. Origin.com5. EA.com6. Sonyentertainmentnetwork.com7. Live.com8. Crackingcore.com9. Realitykings.com10. Xbox.com11. Amazon.com12. Adobe.com13. Wwe.com14. Steampowered.com15. Deezer.com16. Facebook.com17. Beatsmusic.com18. Yahoo.com19. Rapidgator.net20. Hitleap.com

Why are these sites targeted?

The result of huge caches of stolen data being made available is often account takeover (ATO) - where hackers will attempt to log into legitimate user accounts using username and password combinations obtained from data breaches. Hackers will target bigger brands to not only steal valuable information, but also to demonstrate their skills to peers within the criminal community.

There are also monetary benefits. Netflix and Spotify are the perfect target for criminals who can resell stolen credentials to willing customers who want an account a fraction of the retail cost.

DynaRisk also found that pornography sites - which make up much of the ‘non-standard content’ that was found to account for nearly 32 per cent of hacked sites they studied - were often targeted because of their sensitive content.

In 2017, Pornhub was targeted by hackers who had been hiding malicious software behind adverts. Affected users were infected with the virus if they clicked on a tab that stated there was “a critical update” for the browser on which they were viewing Pornhub.