Why keep a Netflix password for yourself

Jake Moore, Security Specialist at global cybersecurity firm ESET, advises on why you should keep your password to streaming platforms like Netflix to yourself.

If someone asked us to give them the password to our email, the vast majority would probably spontaneously say "no!"… But when it comes to subscription services such as Netflix, Amazon Prime and Spotify (streaming platforms) "sharing services") or sharing passwords is very common.

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It may sound innocent, but when we share the same password on streaming services, then things start to get worryingly dangerous as the risk of account breaches increases.

Recently, Jake Moore, Security Specialist at cybersecurity company ESET, conducted a survey on his personal Twitter account and received over 2.700 responses on how people deal with password issues.

Sharing passwords

The first thing Moore asked participants was which subscription streaming services they used. The two most popular services were Amazon Prime (50%) and Netflix (47%). YouTube TV came in third place with 28% and Spotify came in fourth with 23%. Other services took the remaining spots, including Now TV, Disney+ and Sky.

He then asked them if they shared these services with anyone else. It turned out that 60% of people share their accounts with at least one other person, such as family members and friends, while one in three share streaming services with two or more other people.

He then asked them how they gave these people the password to the streaming service. Surprisingly, more than 1 in 5 people gave the password orally, while 7,5% sent the password via text message or email. The vast majority of people who shared the password (30,7%) typed it themselves, being careful not to be seen by those around them.

In other words, more than a quarter of people have given their passwords to someone else and often there is also some kind of written file. And well when you know the person you gave the file to, but what happens when that person then gives the password to someone else on their own initiative? For example, your teenage son or daughter could share family account codes with a friend.

In addition, almost 1% of the people surveyed have lost touch with one or more people with whom they share the streaming service they use. For example, with an ex-partner or a friend they no longer see.
The problems do not stop here…

The most worrying finding of the research conducted by the Security Specialist at cybersecurity company ESET on his Twitter is that 14% of users use the same password across multiple online accounts, which means their accounts can become an easy target for cybercriminals.

It is a very bad idea to use the same password on different accounts even if this password is complex, eg: "Afeg45t3 @ 4DFew / 15f] [_} 1".

Such complex passwords may be stronger against attacks where hackers use social engineering and open source research to process your password; but even so, using the same password anywhere on the Internet increases your risk of being hacked. .

Try using a password phrase. It's very simple.
In case you want to give the password to your streaming services to someone of your own, Moore's advice is to use a password phrase that consists of at least three random words with some punctuation or numbers to separate the words. This will make you remember the password phrase.

Another good idea is to change the streaming service passwords once a year. This way anyone who has gained access to the streaming service in the last year without knowing it will no longer have access.

Have you heard of password managers?

But if you use different passwords for each of your accounts, and you think you may not remember them all, then you can save them to a password manager.

Choose a password manager , and enter your passwords in it. When you want to use a password that you don't remember, you can go into the password manager and find your passwords.

The truth is that Moore's research on Twitter showed that only 26% of respondents use password manager. It is amazing that so few people use a password manager, even though it could make their lives not only easier but also much more secure.

Working from home due to pandemic measures meant that we had to adapt to a new way of life and consequently to a new set of practices in the new office environments in our home.

If there is one thing you can do today, download a trusted password manager and install it on your smartphone, tablet and laptop. These tools are very powerful and you will be the only one who will have access, keeping potential hackers away from passwords.

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