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In a recent cyber attack, hackers targeted all the YouTube channels created by Ranveer Allahbadia, causing a lot of content to be deleted or accessed by unauthorized persons.
YouTuber Ranveer Allahbadia, who runs the Beer Biceps channel as well as his vlogging channel, was hacked on Wednesday night.
The attackers hijacked his channels and resorted to “Tesla” and the related handle “@Elon.trump.tesla_live2024.” Likewise, his channel got tagged as “@Tesla.event.trump_2024”.
The hackers did not stop at renaming the channels; they proceeded to delete all existing content, including interviews and podcasts, which have been replaced with older streams featuring public figures like Elon Musk and Donald Trump. This action causes significant content loss and risks misusing these public figures’ images to perpetrate further scams.
In a particular turn of events, the attackers began a live broadcast with an AI-created face resembling Elon Musk. This avatar was a pump-and-dump scam of cryptocurrencies. A viewer was encouraged to invest their Bitcoin or Ethereum, among other cryptocurrencies, into a given wallet, with promises to get twice the value of the amount deposited.
This type of scam, informally referred to as a ‘Bitcoin doubling’ campaign, is especially common in cyberattacks on well-known digital profiles.
The consequence of this was quite immediate, with YouTube opting to ban both of Allahbadia’s accounts. Visitors who attempted to access the channel pages received a general message stating that the pages were down due to a violation of certain policies. Although this step is preventative, it also draws attention to the potential issues that these platforms encounter when it comes to content moderation and user safety.
The digital security community has reacted with concern to this incident, noting the increasing frequency of targeted attacks on high-profile internet personalities and platforms. This event has escalated fears regarding the safety of digital content creators who rely on platforms like YouTube for their livelihoods and outreach.
Security specialists suggest increasing the degree of security measures, such as using two-factor authentication, constantly monitoring suspicious activities in accounts, and disclosing cybersecurity issues to the public. Several measures should be taken to ensure that all content creators are cautious and work on self-spreading knowledge about cybersecurity threats and measures to prevent such events.
