With more people on furlough, home schooling and students unable to go to university, Britons are spending a lot more time using streaming services. These are becoming so popular since the lockdown that Disney+ has already gained 50 million subscribers since its launch on 24th March and Netflix is targeting a temporary 25% reduction in overall bandwidth consumption in to ease overloaded networks.
And now this surge in usage has led hackers to develop a whole range of scam websites pretending to offer Disney+, Netflix and US-based streaming service Hulu for free. Cybersecurity specialist Mimecast found that Netflix has been a particularly popular service for cyber criminals, with over 700 suspicious domains impersonating the streaming giant in less than a week. Due to Disney+’s recent popularity, Mimecast has also seen websites looking to impersonate the new streaming service.
The COVID-19 pandemic and its resulting lockdown has left people with a lot more time on their hands at home. One way that British people are filling this time is with streaming services. This binge-watching comes with security risks, as cybercriminals look to take advantage of the uptick in television viewing. We have seen a dramatic rise in suspicious domains impersonating a variety of streaming giants for nefarious purposes. These spoof websites often lure unsuspecting members of the public in with an offer of free subscriptions to steal valuable data. The data harvested includes names, addresses and other personal information, as well as stealing credit-card details for financial gain.
My advice to the public is simple: if something looks too good to be true, then it probably is. Offers of free subscriptions are usually well-advertised and easy to find, so check the validity of any such claim before providing any information.