The Supreme Court of India's official YouTube channel fell victim to a cybersecurity breach. Unauthorized content linked to the US-based cryptocurrency company Ripple Labs was displayed.
The channel, primarily used to live-stream high-profile legal proceedings and constitutional hearings, was momentarily replaced with promotional videos for XRP, a digital currency managed by Ripple Labs.
The intrusion was first noticed when a video titled "Brad Garlinghouse: Ripple Responds To The SEC's $2 Billion Fine! XRP PRICE PREDICTION" unexpectedly went live. Following the incident, all prior videos of the Supreme Court hearings were set to private, disrupting access to judicial content.
The court has temporarily taken down the YouTube channel to prevent further unauthorized activities and assured that services will resume shortly.
This is not an isolated incident of digital platforms being manipulated to promote cryptocurrencies. Similar tactics have been previously employed to exploit the channels of other high-profile entities. Hackers have repeatedly targeted channels, converting them to host crypto-related content, particularly involving Ripple Labs and its executives. Reports indicate that such accounts often originate from breaches of prominent YouTubers' channels, which are then repurposed to gain a broad audience quickly.
Nevertheless, due to the ever-rising cases of brand infringement by YouTubers, Ripple Labs decided to sue YouTube in 2020. The lawsuit alleged that it had not been adequately protected against scammers posing as Garlinghouse, its CEO, and other scams involving fake giveaways of cryptocurrencies.
In response to these claims, Ripple Labs stated that this platform not only permitted, but enriched itself from ads that promoted these scams despite numerous complaints in regard to such misuses.The litigation aimed to catalyze a shift in industry practices concerning accountability and response to fraudulent activities.
The most recent New York State court decision mandated Ripple Labs to commit about $125 million in penalties to the SEC for the unlawful sale of the XRP digital asset. This legal case adds to other legal issues that Ripple Labs and other players in the cryptocurrency market continue to face.