You’ve probably heard the term credential stuffing tossed around in tech circles or news headlines. Sounds like something you’d do to a turkey, right? Sadly, it’s not nearly as festive. It’s a sneaky cyberattack that can turn your digital life upside down—and yes, it can affect you even if the breach happened on your personal Netflix account.

Let’s break it down.

🔐 What Is Credential Stuffing?

Credential stuffing is when cybercriminals take stolen username-password combos from one data breach and try them on other websites. It’s automated, relentless, and surprisingly effective. The key word here is stolen, not guessed. These aren’t hackers sitting around trying to figure out your pet’s name—they’re using real credentials leaked from previous breaches.

Why does it work? Because people reuse passwords. A lot. And attackers know it.

When a company gets hacked, the stolen data—your login info, location, maybe even your address—gets sold on the dark web. Criminals then use that data to try logging into other services, hoping you’ve reused the same password elsewhere.

🧠 A Real-World Example (That Might Hit Close to Home)

Meet John Doe. He’s got a Netflix account. His email is [email protected] and his password is IloveCars8794! (because he really does love cars). It’s his “favorite” password, which means he uses it everywhere—Netflix, his Microsoft 365 and QuickBooks accounts at work, you name it.

Then one day, Netflix gets breached. John’s email and password are now floating around in a shady corner of the internet. You might think, “No big deal—it’s his personal email, not his work one.” But here’s the catch: the breach may include location data. So attackers look up “John Doe” in Steinbach, find him on his company’s website, and try logging into systems using [email protected] and—yep—IloveCars8794!.

Boom. They’re in.

“But wait,” you say, “we have MFA!” True, and that’s a great safety net. But the goal is to stop attackers before they even get to the login screen. We don’t want them trying the first lock in the first place.

🚫 Say Goodbye to Your “Favorite” Password

The moral of the story? Don’t have a favorite password. Don’t reuse passwords. Don’t even think about it.

At QCS, we’re exploring Bitwarden Password Manager as a solution for our clients. Once everything’s in place, we’ll share plans and pricing. With a password manager, you only need to remember one strong password—and it’ll safely store all your other unique ones.

✅ Final Takeaway

Credential stuffing is real, it’s dangerous, and it feeds off password laziness. But with a little effort—and a good password manager—you can slam the door on these attacks before they even knock.