Spotify Premium hack: Leaked data exposes hundreds of compromised account details

Hundreds of Spotify Premium account details have been compromised and leaked online by an unknown hacker. A number of separate data dumps containing email addresses, passwords, account types and renewal dates of Spotify users first started to appear online on 15 February.

The leaked data, viewed by IBTimes UK, does not include payment details or credit card details. The user data was posted to Pastebin – which regularly hosts massive data dumps from hacking groups such as Anonymous – by a user under the handle 'Drakia12'. Additionally, the information was listed by the Twitter account @hacked_emails on 17 February.

Spotify told IBTimes UK that it always aims to contact users in the event of data breach however denied it had been hacked: "We monitor Pastebin and other sites regularly. When we find Spotify credentials, we first verify that they are authentic, and if they are, we immediately notify affected users to change their passwords. That is what happened this week," it said in a statement.

At the time of writing, Spotify had made no public acknowledgement of the suspected leak.

This would not be the first time Spotify has fallen victim to this type of attack. In November 2015, over a thousand email addresses and passwords were leaked following a hack, as reported by Newsweek at the time.

Research suggests that login details of popular digital streaming services like Spotify, Netflix and PayPal are all commonly sold on the dark web and circulated by cyber criminals once compromised. According to a recent report by McAfee Labs, titled 'The Hidden Data Economy', the sale of logins is widespread.

"The sad reality is that access to just about every conceivable online service is available," the report found. "We found another online video streaming service account selling for $0.55. With single accounts to digital services selling for less than a dollar, criminals must move a lot of online accounts to make their efforts worthwhile."

Meanwhile, it has previously been reported that lifetime Spotify accounts are sold on the dark web for as little as $1.29 (£1.29). Currently, Spotify boasts over 20 million global subscribers, 75 million active users, and is available in 58 markets around the world.