YouTube Channels for Leading PC Technologies Linus Tech Tips has been hacked and is not available at the time of publication. From the events that unfolded, it appears that the hackers gained access to the YouTube creator dashboards of various LTT channels. After publishing several fraudulent videos and streams, control of the account was taken back by the rightful owner but fell into the hands of hackers again. Now all channels are throwing 404 pages.
Hackers hijacking LTT’s main and related channels tech quickieTech Linked, and possibly others were clearly motivated by the opportunity to squeeze cash from their over 15 million subscribers.
Spam videos that the hackers soon began streaming included promotions for Bitcoin giveaways that appeared to be backed by companies such as Elon Musk and Tesla. The bitcoin gifting scam, reassured by big brands like LTT and Tesla, looked like a phishing attempt to get people to reveal their cryptocurrency wallet details. In the image, we can see that the channel name and logo have also been edited by the hackers to change the channel to “Tesla” or “LinusTechTipsTemp”.
The story is still developing, which is unfortunate for LTT, but the fact that the channel is locked down suggests that normal service will eventually resume. YouTube security complaints have been pouring in, with at least one well-known tech channel complaining about potential abuse in the comments section. more seriously, eTeknix channel was hacked a few weeks agobut is now fully restored.
Certainly some people are very busy in the background on both LTT and YouTube. Channel owner Linus Sebastian Tweet A slightly indignant statement “Yes, I know -_-“.
More revealing information released to LTT seaplane Sebastian said everything is now “locked down” and LTT is working with teams at Google to prevent this kind of hack from becoming more common.
