When Disney announced that they’d be launching their own streaming service called ‘Disney+,’ where customers could watch timeless favorites as well as new releases and Disney+ originals, it didn’t take long for the hype to begin. The service officially launched on Nov. 12 of this past month, and the 10 million people who subscribed to it within the first day were not disappointed. All over social media were reports of people ‘feeling like they got their childhood back’ or being ‘pleasantly surprised by the High School Musical reboot.’ Everything seemed to be going as planned, until the happiest streaming service on earth, wasn’t so happy anymore.
Dissatisfied customers took to Twitter to express their grievances with an apparent breach in Disney+ security. Many reported that they could no longer log in to their accounts, and in many cases, hackers were selling existing accounts on hacking forums for as much as $3-$11. Despite the rumors, Disney maintains that there was not, in fact, a breach in the security of the streaming service itself. The company issued a statement addressing customer concerns, saying that “[they] take users’ data very seriously.” As it turns out, customers’ login information is being stolen by hackers through other security breaches. One common issue has been that of customers using the same email and password for Disney+ as they do for other social networking sites. If that information has already been stolen in other security breaches, then the customer’s Disney+ credentials were never safe in the first place.
Disney has resolved to deal with any login activity that they deem suspicious by locking the account and making the user reset their password. Customers who use other apps owned by the company, such as MyDisneyExperience and Disney Vacation Club, should be warned that any changes they make to their password will affect their login information across all Disney websites. In the future, the company recommends using a different and unique password for any account that a customer chooses to have, be it Disney-owned or not. Sadly, all it takes is one predictable password to bring down a whole host of logins.
Since the launch, Disney has made numerous efforts to inform customers on how to best protect their accounts from hackers. As the confusion has cleared up, there have been fewer reports of breached login information, and fans are enjoying streaming childhood favorites and new releases as usual. Customers have reported struggling to get ahold of Disney+ Customer Service, but with it being the highest-profile streamer of the year, this was to be expected. Employees are doing their best to get back to customers still experiencing issues with their account ASAP.
The launch of any highly anticipated product is sure to have some hiccups, but Disney trusts that as fans alter their passwords, start binge-watching their favorite DCOM’s, and await more releases by the company (that’s right, they still have a few surprises up their sleeve), any stress or frustrations regarding the first week of the Disney+ launch will be forgotten.
All images courtesy of Giphy.
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