Interviews

Streaming services and password sharing

by Mark Rowe

While account sharing for streaming services is commonplace, the consequences of doing so are slim to none, according to a cyber company, which commissioned research about password-sharing of streaming service subscriptions such as Netflix.

The survey found the UK’s most shared streaming service is Netflix as 18pc have free access via someone else’s account. Second came Amazon Prime at 14pc. Then came Disney+ and Spotify each with 12pc; NowTV and Apple Music with 10pc; Audible and Xbox GamePass at 8pc and Apple TV on 7pc.

A majority say they don’t feel guilty about freeloading off of a Netflix account – almost three times as much compared to other services like Spotify, Apple TV and Disney.

Tom Gaffney, (Principal) Consultant for F-Secure’s Consumer Security says: “There’s a good chance the majority of us have lent or borrowed a username and password for an online service at some point, without giving it much thought. It’s easy to do and usually you’re sharing that information with someone you know and trust. However, there’s a bigger issue at play: the inherent cybersecurity risk of sharing details far and wide means that there’s a higher probability of those passwords being compromised and exposed to cybercrime.

“Users should ensure that they’re limiting the spread of their passwords; using two-factor authentication wherever possible; and make each password strong and unique to ensure that access to one account doesn’t also mean access to several others. We know that creating and managing multiple strong and unique passwords is tricky, which is why we’ve launched our Identity Protection product, to help users stay safe online while removing the hassle of juggling several passwords at once.”

The survey was in September by Vitreous World on behalf of F-Secure, surveying 2,000 people across the UK, aged 18 to 65-plus.

Related News

  • Interviews

    NCSC chief on ransomware

    by Mark Rowe

    Ransomware is the most immediate cyber security threat to UK business, said Lindy Cameron, the CEO of the National Cyber Security Centre…

  • Interviews

    True cost of Cloud outage

    by Mark Rowe

    Simon Withers, VP Global Cloud Product, Sungard Availability Services discusses the impact a technology outage can have on a business and offers…

Newsletter

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter to stay on top of security news and events.

© 2024 Professional Security Magazine. All rights reserved.

Website by MSEC Marketing