In a recent cyberattack, the official YouTube channel of popular Indian comedian Tanmay Bhat fell victim to hackers. The channel, boasting a massive subscriber count of over 44 lakh, was promptly renamed “Tesla Corp” by the perpetrators. In addition to the name change, the hackers also took the liberty of deleting all the videos listed on Bhat’s YouTube channel.
Bhat himself took to Twitter to reveal the unfortunate turn of events, disclosing that both his YouTube and Gmail accounts had been compromised. He expressed his dismay at the fact that the hackers managed to bypass the two-factor authentication he had implemented for added security. Seeking immediate assistance, he reached out to Google and YouTube, tweeting, “Hi guys – my YouTube/Gmail account has been hacked. 2FA bypassed. I need urgent help. Please DM!”
Further shedding light on the situation, Bhat called upon YouTube to take swift action. He revealed that the hackers had initiated a livestream video on his compromised YouTube channel, which was subsequently set to private. In a plea directed at YouTube’s support team, Bhat tweeted, “@TeamYouTube, my channel is hacked and a live stream has begun. Please help!”
Unfortunately, Bhat’s case is not an isolated incident. It has come to light that several other prominent YouTubers, including stand-up comedian Aishwarya Mohanraj and YouTuber Abdu Rozik, have also fallen prey to similar hacking attacks. In all these compromised accounts, the hackers have followed a consistent pattern of renaming the YouTube channels to “Tesla” and replacing the profile pictures with Tesla’s logo. They have even replaced the cover photos with images of Tesla cars.
The audacity of the hackers does not end there. They have taken to live streaming through these compromised YouTube accounts, with the livestream titles reading, “Tesla Unveils the All-New Model S Plaid 2024 Today! Live Coverage with Elon Musk!” The affected channels still remain unrecovered, and while some have had all their videos deleted, Bhat’s channel currently displays 473 videos, albeit all listed as private.
In another distressing incident, journalist Barkha Dutt’s YouTube channel, named “Mojo Story,” suffered a similar fate. All the videos on her channel were deleted by the hackers, leaving her devastated. However, there is a glimmer of hope as Dutt’s account has since been restored, and all the videos are once again accessible on the platform.
These recent hacking incidents highlight the growing vulnerability of high-profile social media accounts. It serves as a reminder for individuals and organizations alike to remain vigilant and prioritize robust security measures to safeguard their digital assets from cyber threats.
