Music Site Spotify Hacked
The music streaming site Spotify has been successfully hacked. The hackers appear to have successfully swiped a vast amount of information after breaching the security of Spotify.
Spotify is a music streaming site that allows members to listen to music on their computer without the usually buffering issues. The site has been around since 2006. The company is located in London, but the development takes place in Sweden. Spotify has over 1 million members.
The company recently was hacked and hacked hard. The circumvention of the security for Spotify was so complete that the company did not realize it had been hacked. Instead, it learned about it through hacker notification through a third source. Practically speaking, this means the hackers broke in, did a leisurely stroll through the data on hand and then left after cleaning out the place. It was a total take down and Spotify knows it.
So, what exactly was taken? Well, everything and the kitchen sink. All members’ information was compromised including names, dates, email addresses and other personal information provided. Again, it was a total wipeout.
The question many are asking is whether credit card information was also swiped. Spotify doesn’t really know. Spotify does not do its own transactions. It farms the process out to a third party and “hopes” that the security for that party kept the hackers out.
To say Spotify has a bit of egg on its collective corporate face is a huge understatement. It is claiming only 10,000 accounts may have been impacted, but this seems very dubious considering the fact the hackers were never noticed. The idea that hackers could blow through only a small fraction of all that valuable data seems highly dubious.
If you have an account with Spotify, you’ll need to contact them to find out if your account and personal information was nailed. Also, keep an eye on your credit for any unusual charges and such.