Spotify Hit with a Credential Stuffing Attack with Data from Another Breach

A security researcher has discovered that Spotify has fallen victim to a credential stuffing attack that used data from more than 100,000 accounts.

Unlike the previous incident involving Spotify a few months ago, the latest attack is not due to a security breach. This time, bad actors tried to use a malicious Spotify logger database in a credential stuffing attack on Spotify.

Security researchers Bob Diachenko identified a database containing more than 100,000 account details, likely leaked from somewhere else, that the criminals used to compromise Spotify accounts.

“Credential stuffing attacks are a common tactic used by bad actors attempting to gain access to private user accounts,” said Spotify. “Bad actors use usernames and passwords leaked in data beaches elsewhere online, which individuals re-used across their online accounts.”

“This incident was not the result of any breach of Spotify”s security,” the company explained. “Once we became aware of the situations, we issued a password reset to all impacted users, which rendered the public credentials invalid, and worked to have the fraudulent database taken down by the ISP hosting it.”

Unfortunately, re-used credentials are a bane of cybersecurity. It doesn”t matter  much if users choose a strong and complex password if they re-use it for other online services. Spotify was lucky to have another security researcher find the database, as it”s unlikely this is the last incident of its kind.

We advise users to choose unique passwords for online services and be quick to change them if a data breach leaks their credentials. It would also be a good idea to use a service that keeps an eye on users’ digital identity, warning them when their credentials become public following a security incident.