What does Netflix gain from letting my account get hacked?
Hacking hacking hacking. Over the past 3 years, 1-3 people are constantly hacking into my Netflix streaming account. I also have the DVD plan (the plan where they mail 3 DVDs at a time to my house which I LOVE), AKA no hacking, haha. Anyway, so the first time someone hacked into my streaming account, it happened just like it did with the guy in the article. I received in an email notification that someone had logged into my account from a different location.
Now, I'm one of those people who does not watch movies or shows on anything other than television screens. Personally, I find doing it any other way to be blasphemous. I mean unless it's porn, I don't know why one would do such a silly thing. *in a mocking voice* Yeah, I'd rather watch Forrest Gump on a teeny tiny screen that I have to hold in front of me for two hours straight and get a cramp in my neck, yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeah! I worked hard to become an adult so I can watch a movie in the corner on a device like I'm still trying not to get caught by my parents, woo-hoo! Yeah no, not my cup of tea. But clearly, I have no judgment on the subject whatsoever LOL!
My point to that long little rant is that I know exactly what three TVs are being used to watch Netflix. I never log in off my own property, so I knew for a fact that this was a hacker.
The thing is, Netflix even getting hackers...that's weird. Netflix is a company whose entire success is based on its reputation with security. If Netflix cannot convince the networks and studios that it can keep piraters at bay, it has no business. It was the first company to offer streaming content so obtaining trust from studios to stream *their* content online and NOT get hacked was obviously going to be quite the topic of discussion at all the board meetings, don't cha know. So getting hackers in the first place is weird. I'm just going to throw that out there, it's weird.
So I called Netflix, and one thing that has kept me with them since I was 15 years old is they have great customer service. They have a phone number that is easy to find on their website and they have people who actually pick up, speak English, and assist you without any resistance or hesitation. I love calling Netflix. Or...I used to, anyway. It felt like I was calling family. It was fun.
But in regards to the hacker, they suggested that I change my password, sign out of all devices, and that should boot them out of my account. Honestly, I thought that was a very weak approach.
I was not happy with this approach because as a client, they were asking me to do the work. Since Netflix works for me (and all of their clients), they should have apologized profusely for putting my security at risk, they should have immediately booted the hacker out of their server, reported the IP address to the authorities, offered me a month of free service, and assured me that the matter would be properly handled.
I mean my full legal name was listed on my Netflix streaming profile because it never occurred to me Netflix would allow themselves to get hacked without a proper contingency plan. So they really put my life at risk because my identity could have been compromised. People don't realize this is our lives. This is not small potatoes, this is big time stuff here and I am not interested in Netflix playing god with my life.
So long story long, 3 more years of hackers hacking into my account and I have done nothing but cancel my account, restart it, change passwords, cancel the account, restart it, blah blah blah. Well, I finally created a brand new email address that's an encrypted email address specifically for Netflix, and created specifically to stop the hacking.
I create it, I change the email address, and in less than 10 minutes, I get the same email notification that someone in Georgia has logged into my Netflix account. Which means that there is no action I can do on my end to protect myself. Netflix is the only one who can do anything to protect me at this point.
I tell the supervisor all of this. He gives me the run around.
Neflix: "I understand your concerns, ma'am. What I can do is sign you out of all of your devices--"
Me: "I don't to you to sign me out of all of my devices. I've done that a few times a week. It does nothing."
Netflix: "Well ma'am, I can cancel your account--"
Me: "I don't want you to cancel my account, I just signed back up."
Netflix: "Well ma'am, I see you haven't added your phone number to the account."
Me: "I haven't put my smartphone number into my online profile. You have my landline number in your records."
Netflix: "Well, if you add your cell number to your profile, that will secure your account."
Me: "My account was hacked, I'm not putting my smartphone number into the profile so the hacker can see that too."
Netflix: "I'm just trying to make your account more secure."
Me: "Adding more information does not make an account more secure, it makes it less secure."
JESUS BUDDY!!! WTF! Security 101!
Then I got serious with him.
"I do a little of web development and I know exactly how to boot an IP address out of a server. Why is this something you do not do? Is there a legal reason?"
He got a little flustered for a minute. He pulled himself together and said, "Ma'am, I understand your concerns but at this point, our IT department has no intention of doing something like that."
"That's interesting. So you're gaining something from not booting out hackers." I continued talking before he could deny my statement. "So my only real options are to live with someone else hacking into my account, compromising my security and stealing from me, or canceling my account with Netflix forever."
"Yes ma'am."
That was his answer. Yes ma'am. How interesting! What could they possibly be gaining from having hackers that is worth losing customers? Are these even real hackers? Hmmmmmmm, interesante!
Now, I'm one of those people who does not watch movies or shows on anything other than television screens. Personally, I find doing it any other way to be blasphemous. I mean unless it's porn, I don't know why one would do such a silly thing. *in a mocking voice* Yeah, I'd rather watch Forrest Gump on a teeny tiny screen that I have to hold in front of me for two hours straight and get a cramp in my neck, yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeah! I worked hard to become an adult so I can watch a movie in the corner on a device like I'm still trying not to get caught by my parents, woo-hoo! Yeah no, not my cup of tea. But clearly, I have no judgment on the subject whatsoever LOL!
My point to that long little rant is that I know exactly what three TVs are being used to watch Netflix. I never log in off my own property, so I knew for a fact that this was a hacker.
The thing is, Netflix even getting hackers...that's weird. Netflix is a company whose entire success is based on its reputation with security. If Netflix cannot convince the networks and studios that it can keep piraters at bay, it has no business. It was the first company to offer streaming content so obtaining trust from studios to stream *their* content online and NOT get hacked was obviously going to be quite the topic of discussion at all the board meetings, don't cha know. So getting hackers in the first place is weird. I'm just going to throw that out there, it's weird.
So I called Netflix, and one thing that has kept me with them since I was 15 years old is they have great customer service. They have a phone number that is easy to find on their website and they have people who actually pick up, speak English, and assist you without any resistance or hesitation. I love calling Netflix. Or...I used to, anyway. It felt like I was calling family. It was fun.
But in regards to the hacker, they suggested that I change my password, sign out of all devices, and that should boot them out of my account. Honestly, I thought that was a very weak approach.
I was not happy with this approach because as a client, they were asking me to do the work. Since Netflix works for me (and all of their clients), they should have apologized profusely for putting my security at risk, they should have immediately booted the hacker out of their server, reported the IP address to the authorities, offered me a month of free service, and assured me that the matter would be properly handled.
I mean my full legal name was listed on my Netflix streaming profile because it never occurred to me Netflix would allow themselves to get hacked without a proper contingency plan. So they really put my life at risk because my identity could have been compromised. People don't realize this is our lives. This is not small potatoes, this is big time stuff here and I am not interested in Netflix playing god with my life.
So long story long, 3 more years of hackers hacking into my account and I have done nothing but cancel my account, restart it, change passwords, cancel the account, restart it, blah blah blah. Well, I finally created a brand new email address that's an encrypted email address specifically for Netflix, and created specifically to stop the hacking.
I create it, I change the email address, and in less than 10 minutes, I get the same email notification that someone in Georgia has logged into my Netflix account. Which means that there is no action I can do on my end to protect myself. Netflix is the only one who can do anything to protect me at this point.
I tell the supervisor all of this. He gives me the run around.
Neflix: "I understand your concerns, ma'am. What I can do is sign you out of all of your devices--"
Me: "I don't to you to sign me out of all of my devices. I've done that a few times a week. It does nothing."
Netflix: "Well ma'am, I can cancel your account--"
Me: "I don't want you to cancel my account, I just signed back up."
Netflix: "Well ma'am, I see you haven't added your phone number to the account."
Me: "I haven't put my smartphone number into my online profile. You have my landline number in your records."
Netflix: "Well, if you add your cell number to your profile, that will secure your account."
Me: "My account was hacked, I'm not putting my smartphone number into the profile so the hacker can see that too."
Netflix: "I'm just trying to make your account more secure."
Me: "Adding more information does not make an account more secure, it makes it less secure."
JESUS BUDDY!!! WTF! Security 101!
Then I got serious with him.
"I do a little of web development and I know exactly how to boot an IP address out of a server. Why is this something you do not do? Is there a legal reason?"
He got a little flustered for a minute. He pulled himself together and said, "Ma'am, I understand your concerns but at this point, our IT department has no intention of doing something like that."
"That's interesting. So you're gaining something from not booting out hackers." I continued talking before he could deny my statement. "So my only real options are to live with someone else hacking into my account, compromising my security and stealing from me, or canceling my account with Netflix forever."
"Yes ma'am."
That was his answer. Yes ma'am. How interesting! What could they possibly be gaining from having hackers that is worth losing customers? Are these even real hackers? Hmmmmmmm, interesante!