(Paris) The French streaming platform Deezer has been facing for several weeks the publication on the internet of a file containing data from 250 million user accounts, apparently stolen in 2019 from a service provider.
The database emerged in early November on personal data traffic forums.
“The exposed data includes basic information, such as first and last names, date of birth, email address” but does not include “sensitive” information such as passwords or payment data, Deezer said in a press statement.
The data stolen from Deezer alone does not make it possible to directly attack an Internet user. But they can facilitate more elaborate attacks such as phishing, for example the attacker can use personal information to gain the trust of his target.
Deezer declined to confirm the number of user accounts affected.
According to stolen data tracker Damien Bancal, author of the specialized blog Zataz.com, the data of 257 million users has been put online, representing more than 260 GB (gigabytes) of information.
The American site restoreprivacy.com, which had mentioned the case in November, indicated for its part that it had identified “more than 240 million” accounts concerned.
Deezer warned the Cnil, the French guardian of privacy on the internet, in November, and has been working “since in close collaboration” with it.
“We are in the process of contacting affected users via email to raise awareness of the risks of phishing and to encourage them to be vigilant,” Deezer explained.
“The most important” since Facebook
“We recommend that our users, as a precaution, change their passwords,” the company added.
The base of these stolen data “had already been on sale for a long time in private spaces” of hackers, “we heard about it” indirectly, explained Mr. Bancal to AFP.
And “on December 23”, more than three years after the initial theft according to Deezer, “the file was made available for free” on an easily accessible site, well known to pirates and hackers, he added.
After a data theft, the hacker first tries to “squeeze it like a lemon” by trying to extract the maximum value from it himself, or by selling it to a few hacker VIPs, he said. he explains.
Then gradually the circle of people who have the file increases, and the value of the data decreases.
Until someone decides to put them online for free, especially for self-promotion purposes, says the expert.
Deezer clarified that he no longer worked “since 2020” with the provider targeted by the data theft.
“Deezer’s security systems remain effective, and our own databases are safe,” the company explained in an English blog post, published in November as the data began to emerge.
According to restoreprivacy.com, the database notably contains the data of 46.2 million users in France, 37.1 million in Brazil, 15.3 million in Germany.
Haveibeenpwned, a site that warns Internet users when their email address is circulating among hackers, warned its subscribers if they were in the stolen database.
According to Troy Hunt, the site’s host, the Deezer leak is “the largest” the site has dealt with since the discovery of a file containing data on nearly 530 million Facebook accounts in the first half of 2021.
The case comes in a tense general context for Deezer, which is struggling to find its place against the giants of the sector like Spotify, Apple Music.
The share price fell to a level around 3 euros, while it had been introduced on the Paris Stock Exchange at 8.5 euros in July 2022.