Cyber criminals are targeting Arabic users of popular streaming service Netflix, posing a risk to their personal data such as usernames, passwords and credit card details, Kaspersky found.
The Moscow-based cybersecurity firm detected a wave of phishing attacks in the Middle East and North Africa region targeting users of the service, who are then taken to a malicious domain created in Arabic that looks like a genuine Netflix landing page.
“Personal information and credentials are the most valuable digital products … we can only guess how fraudsters may exploit Netflix credentials gathered as a result of such attacks,” Tatyana Shcherbakova, a security researcher at Kaspersky, said.
“There are many variants – they [stolen credentials] might be sold on the dark web if the user has a prepaid subscription or used later to add credibility to a malicious e-mail attack, for example, informing users of a necessity to pay for the account restoration, stealing money and even blackmail,” she added.
Phishing is the fraudulent attempt to obtain sensitive information or data by disguising oneself as a trustworthy entity in an electronic communication.
It is one of the most common methods of attack by cyber criminals as it uses legitimate institutions, promoting a fraudster's chances of success, and is carried out on a large scale.
“When the victim’s password and login are the same as their credentials to other sensitive domains, the criminals might penetrate their social media or e-mails. This is why we always recommend using different passwords for different services and two-factor authentication,” Ms Shcherbakova said.
Kaspersky did not disclose the number of attacks carried out on Netflix users. In total, more than 2.57 million phishing attacks were detected across the Middle East in the second quarter of this year at the height of the Covid-19 stay-at-home measures, the company said in August.
Saudi Arabia, the biggest Arab economy, witnessed 973,061 phishing attacks – the most in the region. This was followed by the UAE with 617,347 attacks, Egypt (492,532), Oman (193,379), Qatar (128,356), Kuwait (106,245) and Bahrain (67,581), according to Kaspersky data.
"Did you receive an email or text requesting your Netflix username, password or payment method? If so, it probably did not come from us," said Netflix on its help centre page.
The company advised users who were suspicious about a potential phishing attempt to change their Netflix password to one that is strong and unique.
“Update your password on any websites where you use the same email and password combination. Contact your financial institution if you entered any payment information, as it may have been compromised,” it added.
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Other acts on the Jazz Garden bill
Sharrie Williams
The American singer is hugely respected in blues circles due to her passionate vocals and songwriting. Born and raised in Michigan, Williams began recording and touring as a teenage gospel singer. Her career took off with the blues band The Wiseguys. Such was the acclaim of their live shows that they toured throughout Europe and in Africa. As a solo artist, Williams has also collaborated with the likes of the late Dizzy Gillespie, Van Morrison and Mavis Staples.
Lin Rountree
An accomplished smooth jazz artist who blends his chilled approach with R‘n’B. Trained at the Duke Ellington School of the Arts in Washington, DC, Rountree formed his own band in 2004. He has also recorded with the likes of Kem, Dwele and Conya Doss. He comes to Dubai on the back of his new single Pass The Groove, from his forthcoming 2018 album Stronger Still, which may follow his five previous solo albums in cracking the top 10 of the US jazz charts.
Anita Williams
Dubai-based singer Anita Williams will open the night with a set of covers and swing, jazz and blues standards that made her an in-demand singer across the emirate. The Irish singer has been performing in Dubai since 2008 at venues such as MusicHall and Voda Bar. Her Jazz Garden appearance is career highlight as she will use the event to perform the original song Big Blue Eyes, the single from her debut solo album, due for release soon.
Some of Darwish's last words
"They see their tomorrows slipping out of their reach. And though it seems to them that everything outside this reality is heaven, yet they do not want to go to that heaven. They stay, because they are afflicted with hope." - Mahmoud Darwish, to attendees of the Palestine Festival of Literature, 2008
His life in brief: Born in a village near Galilee, he lived in exile for most of his life and started writing poetry after high school. He was arrested several times by Israel for what were deemed to be inciteful poems. Most of his work focused on the love and yearning for his homeland, and he was regarded the Palestinian poet of resistance. Over the course of his life, he published more than 30 poetry collections and books of prose, with his work translated into more than 20 languages. Many of his poems were set to music by Arab composers, most significantly Marcel Khalife. Darwish died on August 9, 2008 after undergoing heart surgery in the United States. He was later buried in Ramallah where a shrine was erected in his honour.
