A Division of NBCUniversal. Ad Choices, Netflix's Password-Sharing Crackdown Has a Silver Lining. A Netflix subscriber shared a screenshot on Twitter, showing that the streaming service is making a move to crack down on password sharing. The streaming service is making account owners enter two-factor codes in a limited test. It adds a layer of annoyance for both you and your beneficiary, but it also ensures that total strangers aren’t breaking in, and keeps credential stuffing at bay. For many years, it seemed clear that Netflix wanted to be the latter. The limited test that Netflix introduced this week is basically a form of two-factor authentication, the kind you hopefully already have on most of your online accounts. Netflix has not put any big focus on password sharing in the past, but now a select number of users have encountered a pop-up asking them to verify their account via text or email. Check out our favorite. Netflix has never made a big deal about password-sharing, but a new test suggests the company may be reconsidering.. Netflix is trying out a new policy with … Netflix, which boasts 203.67 million users worldwide, has been fairly sanguine about password sharing over the years, acknowledging that this practice just comes with the territory. Get this delivered to your inbox, and more info about our products and services. They could also, though, steal whatever personal data your profile holds. “There seems to be a misunderstanding that sharing passwords with known individuals is not dangerous,” says Jake Moore, a cybersecurity specialist at security firm ESET. Remembering dozens and dozens of different passwords for different sites is next to impossible. But even if it’s not Netflix’s top priority here, you’re much better off keeping your password to yourself. © 2021 CNBC LLC. But it’s still a surprise move from a company known to endorse password-sharing in the past. It’s not the end of the world. First spotted by GammaWire and then confirmed by The Hollywood Reporter, the streaming giant is … And while Netflix’s flirtation with a password-sharing crackdown is by no means altruistic—not that anyone has read the terms of service, but it does specify that your account “may not be shared with individuals beyond your household”—it’s also true that sharing user names and passwords with even your closest relations can have woesome consequences. Got a confidential news tip? Some users have begun to see the following prompt when settling in for a binge: “If you don’t live with the owner of this account, you need your own account to keep watching.” Below that, there’s an option to get a code emailed or texted to the account owner, which you can enter to continue watching. Spotted by GammaWire, some viewers … Depending on how this turns out, they will continue it or not. And yes, it would also potentially help Netflix’s bottom line at a time when the streaming giant faces more competition than ever, as not only Disney+ but HBO Max, Peacock, and beyond compete for your monthly eyeball candy budget. But its current trial also improves your security in the process. The year 2016, in particular, marked a sort of heyday for the company's laissez-faire attitude about password sharing. “Because I shared my password with you, and you got hacked, that criminal now has my password,” says Steve Ragan, a researcher at internet infrastructure company Akamai. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Condé Nast. Netflix's Password-Sharing Crackdown Has a Silver Lining The streaming service is making account owners enter two-factor codes in a limited test. It is the essential source of information and ideas that make sense of a world in constant transformation. A Netflix spokesperson told The Streamable, “This test is designed to help ensure that people using Netflix accounts are authorized to do so.” It isn’t clear if users in the test all need to be on the same IP address to be considered in the same household. Netflix has allegedly introduced new potential measures that will prevent password sharing between multiple households or friends. When WIRED senior writer Lily Hay Newman audited the Hulu account she herself was mooching off of a few years ago, she found more than 90 authorized devices. In 2016, Netflix co-CEO Reed Hastings said at the … What’s the actual harm if I pass along my password to a cousin or not-so-casual acquaintance? Christophe Archambault | AFP | Getty Images, Why Needham's Laura Martin is calling 2021 a digital attention recession, Netflix leads in Hollywood, but lags the S&P 500. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement (updated as of 1/1/21) and Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement (updated as of 1/1/21) and Your California Privacy Rights. At long last, Netflix is making a real attempt at cracking down on password sharing. All rights reserved. Netflix has begun testing a feature that asks viewers whether they share a household with a subscriber, in a move that could lead to crackdown on the widespread practice of sharing … Netflix has begun to introduce two-factor authentication among its users, a new move to crack down on password sharing. Evidence suggests that password sharing among friends and family for different types of accounts, such as streaming services, is a regular occurrence. To revist this article, visit My Profile, then View saved stories. It's clearly to Netflix's benefit if more people pay for access. “And if I’ve used that password anywhere else on the internet, the criminal’s going to find it, and they’re going to have access to that, too. All Rights Reserved. If you're using your sister's boyfriend's dad's Netflix account — listen up. And given how often people reuse passwords across multiple sites and services, that means your exposure could extend far beyond Netflix. Netflix stock rose on Monday as analysts on both sides of the Bull-Bear debate weighed in on potential plans to crack down on password sharing. Netflix must also fend off a slew of new streamers -- including Disney+, AT&T's HBO Max, NBCUniversal's Peacock and ViacomCBS's Paramount+ -- to ensure users aren't moving to competitive services. That’s just asking for trouble. Netflix has introduced trial measures to try and prevent the practice of password sharing with multiple households, it has been reported by the BBC. Look, we get it. Worried About Your Weak Passwords? The much bigger issue is that the wider the password circle gets, the more risk you personally take on that your password will become compromised. Photograph: Aleksandar Nakic/Getty Images, thousands of accounts immediately popped up on dark web markets, Things not sounding right? According to a new report from The Hollywood Reporter, Netflix is trying to curb the long-held tradition of password sharing with a new feature that will catch people in the act. And yes, it is always annoying when a gravy train goes off the rails. That's … actually not so bad. The company's standard plan is $13.99 per month, which allows users to watch Netflix on two screens at the same time. Again, it’s unclear whether Netflix will expand this test, or explore other ways to clamp down on password sharing. Requiring that you enter a code to access your Netflix account also doesn’t stop you from sharing your credentials. Some customers are getting a message on their screens prompting them to sign up for their own account if they aren't watching with the subscriber. “Short term, what this is going to stop is the bulk sale of credentials of this type,” says Ragan. Netflix Tests Feature That Could Limit Password Sharing By Reuters , Wire Service Content March 11, 2021 By Reuters , Wire Service Content March 11, 2021, at 3:36 p.m. Netflix has never made a big deal about password-sharing, but a new test suggests the company may be reconsidering. Netflix has generally ignored something that has obviously been going on for years: customers sharing their login and password with others outside their … Global Business and Financial News, Stock Quotes, and Market Data and Analysis. Sign up for free newsletters and get more CNBC delivered to your inbox. "This test is designed to help ensure that people using Netflix accounts are authorized to do so," Netflix said in a statement. The content streaming service, which now … OK, but why? Netflix is testing a new feature on a small number of accounts to crack down on password sharing. The message reads: "If you don't live with the owner of this account, you need your own account to keep watching." The Streamable was first […] A move to crack down on streaming password sharing at Netflix (NFLX +2.9%) is likely to bear fruit, Citi suggests, saying the habit costs streaming companies billions. Netflix is testing a crackdown on password sharing, reports Streamable. © 2021 Condé Nast. It’s a compounding issue.”. Netflix is trying out a new policy with some customers, prompting certain people to sign up for a separate account if they aren't watching with the subscriber. Netflix Tests a Clampdown on Password Sharing The company said a feature was being tested with a limited number of users, a move that might signal a … When Disney+ launched, thousands of accounts immediately popped up on dark web markets as hackers sniffed out the password-reusers. About 33% of all Netflix users share their password with at least one other person, according to research firm Magid. The most basic is also the most innocuous: While you might share your log-in with just one friend, you can’t control how many people they then share it with, and how many people those people share it with, and on and on, like an old Faberge commercial. But that doesn’t mean you should be reusing your passwords. Analysts on what's next. Admittedly, freeloaders primarily threaten the cohesiveness of your recommendations lists. A new feature, which is getting a … According to research firm Magid, around 33% of Netflix users share their passwords with at least one person. The media industry as a whole saw 18 billion attempts over that same stretch. The source familiar with Netflix's trial says that while the company has more or less freely allowed account sharing in the past—CEO Reed Hastings described it as “a positive thing” at CES in 2016—the situation has gone beyond that initial intent; the experiment helps explore one way to curb it that also keeps users that much more safe. The test could be applied for account security as well as sharing passwords. Netflix is testing a new feature that could signal the start of an effort to crack down on password sharing. “The truth is that we shouldn’t be sharing passwords, and adding multi-factor authentication will help this process remain better protected.”.