| 10 February 2021
Security technology firm NordVPN, in cooperation with cybersecurity researchers, has found stolen data records from 16 million computers worldwide, discovering in the process 174,800 leaked streaming content service accounts, many of which relate to popular subscription video-on-demand services.
The data ended up on the dark web after the computers got infected with Zeus, Pony Stealer, RedLine, Raccoon, and dozens of other types of malware built specifically for capturing login credentials saved on computers. As a result, the streaming accounts ended up on the market for a resale.
The researchers estimate that the damage inflicted on users of streaming services alone could round up to $38 million. Netflix users suffered the most: 61% of all stolen streaming credentials are associated with the leading streaming platform. It was followed by Spotify (25%) and Amazon Prime (7%) and then Hulu, Vimeo and Disney+.