Spotify pages defaced as top tracks announced
Some of the world’s most popular singers have had their Spotify pages defaced by a hacker who posted messages about Donald Trump and Taylor Swift just as the streaming service announced its top tracks of 2020, writes the BBC.
On Wednesday, artists including Lana Del Rey and Dua Lipa had their biographies replaced by the attacker. The hacker who calls himself Daniel had replaced the celebrities’ photos with one of himself.
The action will be an embarrassment to the platform’s security efforts. It is the most popular app of its kind. The attacker also asked people to add him on Snapchat, and added the words “Trump 2020”.
“Best of all shout out to my queen Taylor Swift,” he added. On Twitter, users posted images of the changed pages, which also affected artists like Future and Pop Smoke.
Spotify quickly reversed the changes and the artists’ pages appear to have returned to normal, but Spotify has not publicly said anything about the attack or how it happened. The hack comes at an interesting time, as Spotify just yesterday announced the year’s most-streamed tracks, with users sharing their “Wrapped” playlists.
Commenting on the Spotify hacking Tim Mackey, principal security strategist at the Synopsys CyRC (Cybersecurity Research Centre) said:
“While the details of what weaknesses in Spotify’s security practices remain unknown, the attack highlights an important aspect of all cyber-attacks – the attackers define the rules of their attack. In this case, vandalism is an obvious component, but it could also be but one aspect of their ultimate goal. From a public perspective, without clarity around how the Spotify for Artists web site is related to the consumer Spotify site, I would recommend that all Spotify users take this opportunity to reset their passwords and review which apps they’ve linked to the Spotify service.
“Businesses seeking to learn from this incident should ask themselves how quickly they would be able to identify if they had fallen victim to a similar defacement effort. If the answer isn’t affirming, then a review of audit and monitoring practices is in order, along with a review of incident response planning.”
Spotify 2020 Wrapped Global Top Lists:
Most Streamed Artists Globally
Most Streamed Female Artists Globally
Most Streamed Albums Globally
- YHLQMDLG, Bad Bunny
- After Hours, The Weeknd
- Hollywood’s Bleeding, Post Malone
- Fine Line, Harry Styles
- Future Nostalgia, Dua Lipa
Most Streamed Songs Globally
- “Blinding Lights” by The Weeknd
- “Dance Monkey” by Tones And I
- “The Box” by Roddy Ricch
- “Roses – Imanbek Remix” by Imanbek and SAINt JHN
- “Don’t Start Now” by Dua Lipa
Most Popular Podcasts Globally
Most Popular Podcast Genres Globally
Want to give these most-streamed songs and podcasts a listen? Check out the Top Artists of 2020 Playlist
