The accounts Brits are losing to hackers the most

• Facebook accounts are being hacked more than any other, according to new data
• Instagram and Spotify take second and third, respectively

New research has revealed the accounts Brits are losing to hackers the most, with Facebook accounts coming out on top.

The study by online privacy experts VPN Central analyzed average monthly Google searches to see which platforms had the highest searches for hacking-related terms such as “hack”, “account hacked,” and “hacking”.

It found that Facebook accounts are most lost to hackers, with 51,810 hacking-related searches every month. Facebook has suffered several serious data breaches in recent years – in 2021, it was reported that a data breach on the site exposed the personal data of 530 million users.

Instagram takes second on the list, with the photo and video-sharing social network seeing 22,100 hacking-related monthly searches. Due to the number of accounts being hacked on the platform, a new hub was introduced in December of 2022, with several methods available for users to retrieve access to their hacked accounts.

Coming in third place is Spotify, as the first non-social media service to appear in the top ten, with 7,210 hacking-related searches every month. With around 456 million monthly active listeners as of 2023, the platform has also been hit by several data breaches, although less recent than other sites, with the last in December 2020.

WhatsApp takes fourth place on the list, with the messaging service seeing 5,120 searches for hacking-related terms each month. While the platform offers strict encryption between messages, it’s often used for phishing scams, and having your account hacked can allow these scams to spread to your contacts.

Rounding out the top five is Snapchat, which attracts 2,920 hacking-related searches monthly. With messaging also being one of the primary purposes of the app, hacking is often done to allow scams to take place with your personal contacts or spread viruses around.

Commenting on the findings, a spokesperson for VPN Central said: “The variety of platforms and their purposes on the top ten highlights how much all kinds of accounts are being targeted and how it is important to protect all your passwords as much as possible. VPNs, in this case, can assist, with the added benefit of users being able to browse these sites and their connections with more privacy.”

The study was conducted by VPN Central, a team of VPN experts and privacy advocates who strive every day to keep the public informed and up to date on everything that is VPN-related.