Media Industries Stormed By Credential Stuffing Attacks

Akamai Technologies is a global content delivery network that specializes in cybersecurity providing web and internet security services. In their recent report, “Akamai 2020 State of the Internet” it has been found that media companies have become the prime targets of credential stuffing attacks.

Out of 88 Billion total credential attacks, 20% of it has been reported on media companies. The attacks on the media sector are increasing every year. They target the media industry to acquire both user’s personal information and their access to premium accounts.

“We’ve observed a trend in which criminals are combining credentials from a media account with access to stolen rewards points from local restaurants and marketing the nefarious offering as ‘date night’ packages,” Ragan explained in the report. “Once the criminals get a hold of the geographic location information in the compromised accounts, they can match them up to be sold as dinner and a movie,” said Steve Ragan, Akamai Security Researcher, and the author of the report.

In 2019, India becomes the most targeted country with 2.4 Billion attacks followed by the United States with 1.4 Billion credential attacks. The United Kingdom stands third with 124 million attacks. Followed by countries like France and Russia.

Especially at the start of 2020, there has been an increased attack on the servers of the European broadcasters and video providers. The research also found that the stolen credentials are sold at a rate of $10 to $45 per package.