In the world of cybersecurity, few names carry as much daily trust as Bit.ly . Processing over 600 million links per month, it is the default tool for shrinking URLs on Twitter (X), email campaigns, and SMS marketing. In late 2019 and early 2020, Bit.ly fell victim to an attack known as Hackquick — a sophisticated campaign that bypassed traditional security by exploiting user behavior, not code vulnerabilities. What Was the Hackquick? "Hackquick" was the name given by security researchers to a targeted credential-stuffing operation against Bit.ly’s enterprise and high-volume user accounts. Unlike a SQL injection or zero-day exploit, the attackers did not break Bit.ly’s servers. Instead, they automated login attempts using billions of usernames and passwords leaked from previous breaches (e.g., LinkedIn, MySpace, Dropbox).
