ONLINE STREAMING- A Harmless Entertainment or a Cybersecurity Hazard
By Shigraf Aijaz, Cybersecurity Journalist and Writer, Be Encrypted
The popularity of online streaming has grown significantly in the past few years. In fact, by 2024, the global streaming market is estimated to be worth $688.7 billion. As per various trends, this popularity is not going anytime soon.
While the streaming industry does provide significant benefits to its users, cybercriminals have also started viewing it as a potential for exploits. Admittedly, this might sound alarming to many since online streaming and cybersecurity are two things that rarely go hand-in-hand for many.
In fact, for many, when it comes to online streaming, the only concern is acquiring a good movie or TV show. And although online streaming on free platforms is a known significant risk, many people shrug off these concerns while being paid subscriptions to popular streaming platforms such as Hulu, Netflix, or even Disney plus. However, the cyber threat landscape is a rapidly evolving platform of cyber criminal activity. The modern cybercriminals have managed to exploit even these innocent forms of entertainment for the netizens.
How is cyber security a concern with paid streaming platforms?
Entertainment platforms have long since been a lucrative method for cybercriminals to lure naive users. With millions of people taking up online streaming as their favorite pastimes, cybercriminals have been quick to plague this innocent source of entertainment with malicious deeds.
However, these activities were often only confined to free streaming platforms for a long time until TV networks started appearing as streaming platforms. The streaming industry is, therefore, now thriving with several platforms available for people ranging from Disney plus, Amazon Prime, Netflix, and Hulu. However, these appearances are not only good news for consumers. Cybercriminals have also been quick to seize the opportunity to exploit these platforms and perform criminal activities such as:
· Malware
Since these streaming platforms do have dedicated secure sources for downloading, cybercriminals are unable to infect these apps with malware. However, that does not stop them from exploiting these platforms…
