A new report from MyBroadBand says that the usernames and passwords for more than 27,000 Showmax accounts have been put online.
The parent company of Showmax, MultiChoice, has not yet said how the hackers got this information, but they have admitted the attack and said that their cybersecurity team is working on the problem.
In a blog post, the company said, “Showmax was recently made aware of an external incident in which an unknown party posted a small number of subscriber login details on an illegal website.” As soon as we heard about this, our protection team started looking into it to figure out how big and serious it was.
As stated in the MyBroadBand report, a detailed analysis of the leaked file shows that it has 27,911 lines, each containing an email address that serves as a username. But it’s worth noticing that the first 100 or so lines seem to have incomplete or cut-off records.
At first glance, it seems that the leak may have been caused by a brute-force attack that gathered credentials. This is because a lot of the passwords found were considered weak.
A brute-force attack is when hackers use trial and error to try to guess login information, encryption keys, or hidden personal data.
“Our first investigation showed that some of our customers’ emails and passwords had been stolen,” the Showmax blog post said.
This comes a year after Vulnerable pointed out a problem with the login and password recovery pages for Showmax. Their report said that Showmax didn’t have rate-limiting methods. This flaw could risk the site’s users by letting bad people carry out brute-force attacks.
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Showmax lacks security
The WSIS Forum 2023 report cited ECA 2022 research that found cybersecurity in Africa is lacking. This makes the continent more exposed to cyberattacks, which is concerning considering the African digital industry is anticipated to be worth USD 712 billion by 2050.
In 2023, Kaspersky found that 47% of African systems were infected by malware. Checkpoint Research also found that in the last quarter of 2022, Africa had the most cyberattacks per week, at 1,875 per week.
These findings highlight the need to overcome Africa’s cybersecurity knowledge gap. African countries have poor cybersecurity disclosure rules, practices, and enforcement.
Hacking streaming platforms’ user data might have serious effects. Many reasons include:
Unauthorized access: Showmax’s vulnerability could expose users’ email addresses and passwords. This could lead to account takeovers and subscription misuse.
Data thefts: Although Showmax confirmed that client financial information was not altered, user data gathered can still be sold on the dark web or used for identity theft, leading to phishing efforts or other crimes targeting impacted users.
Credential Stuffing Attacks: Two-thirds of users use the same password for multiple accounts, according to Comparitech. Showmax’s data leak may affect others. Many people reuse passwords across online platforms, so if their Showmax password is compromised, it may also give hackers access to their email, social media, and banking accounts.
Security breaches may tarnish streaming platforms’ reputations. The platform may lose subscribers and unwanted press if users lose trust in its data protection.
Cybersecurity and data breaches
Since a company maintains your data, you could be hacked. However, you can protect yourself and respond quickly to dubious behaviour.
Use strong and unique passwords. Cyber attackers routinely attempt brute-force assaults. Thus, each online account should have a strong, complex password. Avoid using common passwords or reusing passwords across platforms as much as possible, even though it’s hard to remember them all. You might use a trustworthy password manager to store and manage your passwords.
Enable Two-Factor Authentication (2FA): 2FA adds more security to online accounts. Use 2FA whenever possible.
Avoid Phishing: Avoid clicking on questionable advertisements, emails, and links. Before clicking or downloading from untrusted sources, check these.
Secure Wi-Fi Networks: Did you know hackers can steal Wi-Fi data? Avoid online banking and personal account access on public or unprotected Wi-Fi. VPNs encrypt data. Security improves.
Educate Yourself: If you spend as much time online researching cybersecurity best practices and trends, you may be able to detect common attack methods like phishing and social engineering.
African viewers should learn about cybersecurity, security, unique passwords, and password updates from this Showmax issue.
Showmax ensured consumer privacy and security. The streaming company says:
We prioritize client security and privacy. This was an external event, not a Showmax database compromise. We follow privacy laws and are committed to increasing security to protect our customers’ data. We are safeguarding your info. Updates will be provided.