Hackers Know What You Choose On Netflix Interactive Programs

Even if Netflix uses excellent encryption for its videos and programs to protect the privacy of its users, hackers can still keep track of interactive content that users often view on this platform. According to the latest study from Indian Technology Institute (IIT) Madras, the popular online streaming service still cannot guarantee your privacy completely.

According to the WIRED's report published last Sunday, researchers analyzed Netflix's encrypted interactive video traffic to collect the viewing habits of users of the service. This means hackers can grasp the choices that users have made to join their movie journey.

Interactive content on Netflix aims to offer story and character options for users. Each option can lead to different adventures, and this allows users to watch the episode again and again with different stories in each view. You vs. Wild and Black Mirror: Bandersnatch are some of the current titles that Netflix applies to this interactive program.

Gargi Mitra, a Ph.D. student in IIT Madras, said his job was to analyze encrypted network traffic. He and his friend were extremely excited about this strange and new idea when he and his friends stumbled across Netflix's Bandersnatch.

However, it has a similar way of interacting with other popular web applications, Gargi Mitra added as he observed and learned about Netflix's interactive interactions. Therefore, he and his friends used their techniques to determine which options the viewer chose.

Netflix once stated that this is not easy to be attacked because outsiders do not have access to network traffic for analysis. Researchers at IIT Madras said the attack is not impossible when hackers can trick users into connecting to fake routers or access points.

The report also said that after analyzing the options of 100 people, Gargi Mitra and his colleagues were able to pinpoint 96% of user decisions.