Fans and followers were surprised when the YouTube channels of three local artists suddenly showed videos related to cryptocurrency.
Folk-pop band Ben&Ben on Monday announced that their account on the video-sharing platform was compromised after a video featuring Ripple and “XRP price prediction” appeared on their channel.
Ripple is a company that provides cross-border payment solutions to banks and financial institutions. It is also considered one of the largest cryptocurrency platforms by market capitalization.
XRP is its cryptocurrency token, which is said to be one of the leading payment cryptocurrencies and among the top ten cryptocurrencies by market capitalization.
Cryptocurrency is decentralized digital money based on blockchain technology and secured by cryptography. Unlike the US Dollar or the Euro, it is not managed and maintained by a central authority.
Meanwhile, Ben&Ben said that while their team has “restored and recovered a significant part” of their YouTube channel from the hackers, they are still “waiting on the response” of their partners in addressing the matter.
The band’s YouTube home page is still showing a live video about cryptocurrency as uploaded by the hackers.
Ben&Ben’s username was also changed to @ripple.official-Iive.
“Nonetheless, we are doing our best to resolve this immediately. Thank you for your patience and support, Liwanag,” the band said on a Facebook Story on July 15.
P-pop group SB19 also had their YouTube channel hacked but were able to retrieve it quickly.
“We regret to inform you that SB19’s official YouTube account was recently compromised. We took immediate action to address the incident, and rest assured that it is now under control,” 1Z Entertainment, the group’s label, said on Monday.
“Our team has reported the incident to the relevant authorities involved to prevent similar occurrences in the future. We sincerely appreciate your patience and understanding as we work to ensure the safety and security of our online platforms. Thank you for your continued support,” it added.
Some social media users claimed that SB19’s YouTube channel posted videos about cryptocurrency. Based on the screenshots, Ripple was also mentioned.
The YouTube channel of OPM icon Rico Blanco, former frontman of Rivermaya, was also hacked according to some Filipinos.
Some shared screengrabs of the incident which showed Ripple “finding happiness” and an “XRP price prediction.”
As of this writing, Rico’s channel is no longer sharing the supposed cryptocurrency-related videos.
In 2020, Business Insider reported that big YouTube channels were hacked by those promoting Bitcoin scams.
A gaming YouTuber said such hacking incidents could be prevented if the video-sharing platform required two-factor authentication for logins or uploading videos.
