Following a data leak, Spotify has had to reset 350,000 of its users’ passwords. As reported by Phone Arena, this move follows an investigation by security researchers.
Given a number of the high profile moves being made by the streaming platform, concerns about its data security could not have come at a worse time. Recently Spotify made it possible to link your Google Account to the platform. Something that Spotify users may think twice about after today’s data leak.
Spotify also made the high profile move to acquire podcasting hosting business Megaphone. The acquisition cost $235 million and marked the next step in the company’s plans to expand into the podcasting market.
Now the company faces bigger issues having to deal with a data leak. Making the swift move to reset passwords may help but it could still cause them reputation problems down the line.
Spotify forced to reset 350,000 passwords
Security researches found an unencrypted 72GB database online which contained 380 million passwords online. They stumbled upon this database during a web mapping project.
This sparked an investigation into the database which found out that the breach contains “login credentials and other user data being validated against the Spotify service”.
It is unknown where these login credentials have originated from. The assumption is that these credentials were obtained illegally. However, as of now, no one can be sure.
It emerged that Spotify first became aware of the issue back in the summer. Fortunately, the company reacted quickly, initiating a password reset to more than 350,000 accounts.
The company hoped that this would mitigate risks of these accounts becoming compromised or hijacked. From what we know the issue is now resolved. It seems that Spotify was able to sort this out without too many problems in the end.
As always such leaks serve as a reminder of the dangers that company’s and users face with their passwords and data. It is therefore worth reiterating that one should never use the same password for different accounts.
In this situation that could potentially allow individuals with bad intentions not only to gain access to your Spotify account but other accounts with the same password.
Thankfully, it seems that Spotify was able to resolve this particular situation without any major issues occurring. However, we should all remain aware of the dangers that are out there. This more than anything else will mitigate the dangers of any potential data leaks.