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Youtube Security

YouTube Hack: Several High-Profile Videos Mysteriously Disappear From Platform, Some Defaced 158

Several high-profile music videos on YouTube were mysteriously deleted early Tuesday, in what appears like the result of a security compromise. Some of the videos that have been pulled from Google's video platform include Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee's "Despacito" -- which is also the most popular video on the platform. Users reported Tuesday that the thumbnail of the video was replaced by a masked gang holding guns, who identify themselves as "Prosox and Kuroi'sh." Several songs from DJ Snake, Drake, Katy Perry, Selena Gomez, Shakira, and Taylor Swift have also been either deleted or altered with. On Twitter, a person who claims to be one of the hackers, said, "@YouTube Its just for fun i just use script "youtube-change-title-video" and i write "hacked" don t judge me i love youtube." Google has yet to acknowledge the incident. Further reading: BBC.
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YouTube Hack: Several High-Profile Videos Mysteriously Disappear From Platform, Some Defaced

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  • And (Score:5, Insightful)

    by ArchieBunker ( 132337 ) on Tuesday April 10, 2018 @07:08AM (#56411333)

    Nothing of value was lost.

    • Your tag is wrong.
      Every corporate entity obtains revenue by ensuring you have no other choice, IF it can.
  • by blind biker ( 1066130 ) on Tuesday April 10, 2018 @07:11AM (#56411351) Journal

    Several songs from DJ Snake, Drake, Katy Perry, Selena Gomez, Shakira, and Taylor Swift have also been either deleted

    Part of me is not exactly outraged. I'm thinking humanity might get ahead for a moment if the flux of stupid is interrupted.

    • by GuB-42 ( 2483988 ) on Tuesday April 10, 2018 @07:22AM (#56411409)

      Every time popular music is involved there is always that guy who has to make a comment like that.
      Probably the same guy who comments on the "poor choice" of music at parties instead of just having fun.

      Popular music is popular for a reason guys. It is not meant to be refined, it is meant to make people happy, and it works. Respect that. Yes it is stupid, partying is stupid, having some mindless fun is stupid, but that's the kind of stupid that makes the world a better place.

      • by belthize ( 990217 ) on Tuesday April 10, 2018 @07:44AM (#56411497)

        Nah, I think it's just because this particular new generation has shit taste in music vs my generation, oddly enough the generation previous to mine also had shit taste in music.

        • by Opportunist ( 166417 ) on Tuesday April 10, 2018 @08:03AM (#56411587)

          The three steps of getting old:

          1: The music is great!
          2: The music is just not great anymore.
          3: The music could be great (because it's all covers of the songs I loved in my youth) but they play it ALL WRONG!

          • You left out: 4. The music is just TOO LOUD!
          • by lgw ( 121541 )

            The problem with that line of reasoning is: bands like Led Zepplin and Pink Floyd and Dire Straits and Rush really were better.

            • Sure, they were great. But you're forgetting all the shitty bands that were around back then, because they were forgettable, just like most popular music today. Most of this stuff will be completely forgotten in 5-10 years.

        • Nah, I think it's just because this particular new generation has shit taste in music vs my generation, oddly enough the generation previous to mine also had shit taste in music.

          This new generation has better taste in music than most; music from prior generations (mostly just one generation prior, to be fair) is outselling the stuff supposedly produced for them. It happened in 2015, 2016, and at least the first half of 2017.

          I attribute this fact to new music sounding the same as old music. Even "new" "country" music just sounds like last generation's Top 40 pop, with a little bit of accent and some different instruments. But more importantly, I keep hearing "new" popular music whic

        • by mjwx ( 966435 )

          Nah, I think it's just because this particular new generation has shit taste in music vs my generation, oddly enough the generation previous to mine also had shit taste in music.

          Yes, I may be old but I got to see all the good bands.

          There are still a few bands who make decent music and I know sturgeons law applies to everything... but it seems that popular music is crap. I don't blame the "utes" for this, I blame the people pushing it. Musicians with skill and talent tend to have brains that get their own ideas, want a fair slice of the earnings, may even start performing without a label. However if you can churn out a steady stream of talentless pop/rap/electronic crap via autot

      • by lucm ( 889690 ) on Tuesday April 10, 2018 @07:54AM (#56411549)

        Every time popular music is involved there is always that guy who has to make a comment like that.
        Probably the same guy who comments on the "poor choice" of music at parties instead of just having fun.

        As far as I'm concerned, real music died when heathens turned away from gregorian chants and started to use harmonies and chords. Once that line was crossed, the gates of Hell opened and now we have fat girls with no musical talent on the youtubes.

        https://www.youtube.com/watch?... [youtube.com]

        ^ This is not what God intended when he gave us the blessed diatonic scale. REPENT, PEOPLE

      • by blind biker ( 1066130 ) on Tuesday April 10, 2018 @07:57AM (#56411567) Journal

        Every time popular music is involved there is always that guy who has to make a comment like that.

        And everytime there is someone pooping on pop music, there is that guy who is karmawhoring with exactly these words.

      • There are people who just get joy out of feeling superior to others. The thing with music, any music if you listen to it enough where you get to a point where you can find the pattern. It starts sounding good. Popular music follows the basic trends so it is easy to get the pattern, with sometimes a slight amount of surprise just to spice it up a bit. It is much easier and enjoyable to listen to, then trying to get into Classical/Jazz Funk fusion with Bluegrass elements all played with didgeridoo, accord

        • I think this article explains what you're suggesting. I could be wrong.

          https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]

        • by Gr8Apes ( 679165 )
          I guess I just don't fall into any of your categorizations. I long ago stopped worrying about what other people thought of my favorite bands. Some are or were popular, others not. If it's a decent musical composition that doesn't regurgitate the same 2 measures of musical patterns in endless repetition, it at least stands a chance of being good. Most popular music these days fails even that standard. I also don't wish to "learn to like" some crap. If I dislike like it on first listen history has shown that
      • Popular music is popular because it is popular.

        I'll back up a bit. Popular music is written specifically to appeal to the lowest common denominator, a simple rhythm that resonates with most people in a given region or culture, on a basic level. There are a lot of well-known tricks you can use, including a "heartbeat" rhythm, a straight-forward happy-sounding refrain that is easy to sing along to, a repeated refrain at end of the song with the final repetition a half tone up, there's a whole recipe for makin

        • by lgw ( 121541 )

          I'll back up a bit. Popular music is written specifically to appeal to the lowest common denominator, a simple rhythm that resonates with most people in a given region or culture, on a basic level. There are a lot of well-known tricks you can use, including a "heartbeat" rhythm, a straight-forward happy-sounding refrain that is easy to sing along to, a repeated refrain at end of the song with the final repetition a half tone up, there's a whole recipe for making pop music with a reasonable chance at success.

          Not just pop music - check this out: https://youtu.be/B9FzVhw8_bY [youtu.be]

          Obviously, taste is fickle and ever-changing, so you also need a hell of a lot of luck to make a popular hit.

          Taste may change, but I suspect this recipe is very old - certainly older than radio, probably as old as music that's recognizably western (e.g., medieval folk music). Check this out: https://youtu.be/x9g7azfKckc [youtu.be]

          It's a modern arrangement, so it's not clear evidence, but certainly the pattern of happy-sounding sing-along chorus and an appropriate beat is centuries old.

          • Yes, you're absolutely right :-) It resonates with us, and has done so for centuries.

            My point with the fickle and ever-changing taste is that you may write and perform a song that hits all of those techniques, gets radio play and is objectively a good candidate for a popular song, but there is no guarantee. It may simply not have the right kind of hook at the right time, it may not hit just that right combination to resonate with people. The big picture is there, but the devil is in the details.

      • How is it that these things make the world a better place? These, and many other things, are assumed to be good because they were previously considered bad. There's no time wasted on determining if things were taboo in the past for any particular reason, just a blind and uncompromising orgy of iconoclastic fervor.

        Everything anyone has ever said is bad must be good because saying things are bad is not nice and not being nice is bad. Liberalism is a hell of a drug.

    • Honestly DJ Snake has a good sense of humor. He made this video after all https://www.youtube.com/watch?... [youtube.com]

    • Several songs from DJ Snake, Drake, Katy Perry, Selena Gomez, Shakira, and Taylor Swift have also been either deleted

      Haters gonna hate hate hate hate hate.

  • Funny (Score:5, Informative)

    by cascadingstylesheet ( 140919 ) on Tuesday April 10, 2018 @07:16AM (#56411375) Journal

    Funny, you forgot to quote this:

    The hackers, calling themselves Prosox and Kuroi'sh, had written "Free Palestine" underneath the videos.

    • Re: (Score:2, Informative)

      by drinkypoo ( 153816 )

      Funny, you forgot to quote[...]

      It's quite astonishing what some people will do to prevent anyone hearing their story [washingtonpost.com].

      • Funny, you forgot to quote[...]

        It's quite astonishing what some people will do to prevent anyone hearing their story [washingtonpost.com].

        Like ... by publishing their "story" in the Washington Post? Yeah, what a coverup! :)

        No, my point was that msmash was trying (knowing that few click to the articles) to omit the involvement/culpability of the agents of Religion of Pieces in this hacking that this /. story is about.

        • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

          by Anonymous Coward

          Funny, you forgot to quote[...]

          It's quite astonishing what some people will do to prevent anyone hearing their story [washingtonpost.com].

          Like ... by publishing their "story" in the Washington Post? Yeah, what a coverup! :)

          The coverup is shooting someone who is clearly identified as a journalist. Israel does this kind of thing all the time. Hell, when an Israeli soldier was caught on video shooting a wounded and detained Palestinian in the head and was sentenced to a year in prison there were protests because the sentence was too harsh!

        • by Cederic ( 9623 )

          What the fuck makes you think 'Free Palestine' has anything to do with religion?

          I'm an atheist and I greatly dislike Israel's illegal occupations.

      • by lucm ( 889690 )

        Funny, you forgot to quote[...]

        It's quite astonishing what some people will do to prevent anyone hearing their story [washingtonpost.com].

        Dial down your off-topic antisemitic propaganda. The guy wasn't killed to prevent people from hearing a story, he was killed because he was in the middle of a violent riot.

        • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

          by drinkypoo ( 153816 )

          Dial down your off-topic antisemitic propaganda. The guy wasn't killed to prevent people from hearing a story, he was killed because he was in the middle of a violent riot.

          Being opposed to the deliberate murder of journalists is not antisemitic. Being opposed to the silencing of the people of Palestine is not antisemitic. Pointing out that the nation of Israel is using many of the tactics of Nazi Germany is not antisemitic. Pointing out that Slashdot buried probably the most important fact of the story is not antisemitic.

          If and when I start ranting about how "the Jews" are doing this or that, start pointing your accusatory finger. If I start frothing about how "the Zionist Co

          • Actually, opposing the state of Israel is anti-semitic just like opposing Islam is anti-muslim. It is a matter of perspective.

            • So Jon Stewart is an anti-Semite?
            • Actually, opposing the state of Israel is anti-semitic just like opposing Islam is anti-muslim. It is a matter of perspective.

              Opposing Islam is anti-muslim the definition of muslim is follower of Islam, but the definition of semite is not "living in Israel"; semitic is equivalent to hispanic in that it refers to people who speak any of a group of languages. The modern state of Israel is an artificial creation imagined by the British and implemented by America, and we continue to fund its activities via our foreign aid program. Therefore, we have a stake in (and shared responsibility for) their activities. Our tax dollars are murde

            • by Cederic ( 9623 )

              No, it's not.

              It's perfectly reasonable to dislike followers of the Jewish faith for their racism and child mutilation, but that's got fuck all to do with the multi-faith nation of Israel, which has plenty of non-religious reasons to despise and/or admire.

              • by guruevi ( 827432 )

                The entire premise of Israel existing and having exclusive access to holy sites is based on a theological promise, same for Palestine but for a different party. Opposing the State of Israel, both in the State of Israel and among religious jews abroad is considered blasphemy and to them it is tantamount to holocaust denial. Israel is a semi-theocracy, it is certainly not a democracy and its modern policies and actions are based on (their) holy scripture rather than reason.

                • by Cederic ( 9623 )

                  Religious idiots expecting specific things about Israel does not prevent critique of the state as a secular entity, whether its motives are driven through economic, ideological or theocratic influences.

                  When I criticise Israel I do so knowing that many of its citizens are not Jewish.

      • Probably because people care more about YouTube than Palestine?

    • Re: (Score:2, Interesting)

      by JoshuaZ ( 1134087 )
      Hmm, does that mean that the summary is biased against the Palestinians for suppressing the message or does that mean that the summary is biased for the Palestinians and against the Israelis by not mentioning that the hackers are spreading their message by damaging popular websites 100% unrelated to the conflict in question? Why not both?
      • Hmm, does that mean that the summary is biased against the Palestinians for suppressing the message or does that mean that the summary is biased for the Palestinians and against the Israelis by not mentioning that the hackers are spreading their message by damaging popular websites 100% unrelated to the conflict in question? Why not both?

        Given that this is /. and it was posted by msmash, I'm thinking the latter.

      • I probably means that the BBC identified correctly that people care about YouTube while not giving a fuck about either Israel or Palestine.

    • I'm kind of glad it got left out. There's far too much effort to drag politics into stories when there's plenty to discuss about the hacking itself. Also, I'd argue that by focusing on the perpetrators and their message, you only provide a lot more encouragement for others to do the same to get their message out there. It's the same reason that news stations are discouraged from showing and endlessly discussing the perpetrator in mass shootings or terror attacks because it is believe to encourage others to
      • I'm kind of glad it got left out. There's far too much effort to drag politics into stories when there's plenty to discuss about the hacking itself.

        A fair point.

      • by Hentes ( 2461350 )

        They just hacked the second largest site on the web, I don't think they need an obscure tech forum to spread their propaganda. And if this drives islamists towards vandalism instead of murder, that's an improvement.

    • That is mildly ironic because in general any mention of 'Palestine' is considered reason enough to delete a video. Or a twitter or facebook account.

    • The hackers, calling themselves Prosox and Kuroi'sh, had written "Free Palestine" underneath

      Underneath that, somebody else wrote "With every 10 gallons".

  • Comment removed (Score:3, Interesting)

    by account_deleted ( 4530225 ) on Tuesday April 10, 2018 @07:23AM (#56411411)
    Comment removed based on user account deletion
    • I just don't get why when a video is under investigation they can hold onto the payments for the views, then if found innocent they just pay them back. If guilty then the payments go to the proper copyright holder.
      I would also like to go further where the person putting in the complaint found to be false should pay the fair use compensation for their troubles.

      YouTube demonitization method is Guilty until proven innocent, and you are punished while guilty.

      • Being paid by youtube is not some sort of natural right -- you're working for them, so you play by their rules and procedures if you want to work for them. Youtube themselves lose money by demonetizing videos, so it seems rather uncharacteristically praiseworthy of them to stop showing ads when they're not sure if they should be monetizing something.

  • by Anonymous Coward

    What about Rick Astley?

  • by Anonymous Coward

    Give me a call if you need some help getting through this tough time.

    • by lucm ( 889690 )

      Give me a call if you need some help getting through this tough time.

      Really? From that list of celebs that's the one you creep on?

      You must be one of those people who like the wrong girl in t.a.t.u or in wilson phillips.

  • Since when are script-kiddies news?
  • by pikine ( 771084 ) on Tuesday April 10, 2018 @09:22AM (#56412031) Journal

    From the pattern of the damage, those YouTube channels belonging to DJ Snake, Drake, Katy Perry, etc. probably are managed by the same record label marketing person. They probably just hacked into the computer managing these channels while the accounts are still logged in. Everything they did for the damage are something that channel owners could do: changing cover picture, video description, deletion. The actual video content itself hasn't been changed, which is exactly what content creators can't do to their videos, despite it being a popular request.

    If they had really hacked YouTube, they may have been able to replace the video if they could pull it off, but since the videos are divided into chunks and aggressively cached by the CDN (as the videos are served over MPEG-DASH [bitmovin.com]), they will probably get very mixed result at best with some chunks from the old video mixed with chunks from the new video.

    • If you hacked Youtube, the most likely option would be to call whatever API they used to upload a video. Use Google's systems against itself.
  • by k6mfw ( 1182893 ) on Tuesday April 10, 2018 @09:48AM (#56412155)

    Examples cited in summary seems to me we're not missing much but maybe that's me as I'm not familiar with many of these names. I think there are plenty other options to get videos of today's major stars. It is the older ones (i.e. Connie Francis, Julie London) no longer on the Top 40 list (if there is such a thing these days) that would be a shame if that footage becomes lost.

    Besides music there are many other interesting videos like techie stuff on how to implement various stuff, interesting documentary clips no longer shown on television both OTA and CATV. If this stuff goes, then it's back to old days of swapping VHS tapes.

  • I don't think I've heard that expression before... what's the difference between that and "tampered with"?
  • And yet I get that strange look when I say You sound like a broken record

    Just get off my lawn.

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