How Hackers Gain Full Access to Linus Tech Tips YouTube Channel – YouTube

The hack initially allowed the hackers to livestream Elon Musk to promote cryptocurrency. Then the malicious users changed the channel names and proceeded to delete the videos. In a new video, owner Linus Sebastian explains that the hack bypassed various safeguards such as password and two-factor (2fa) protection, because the malicious user gained access to the session tokens that keep all users signed in to websites.

According to Sebastian, someone at Linus Media Group downloaded “what appears to be a sponsorship offer from a potential partner” and opened the attached PDF of the terms of that offer. But Sebastian reports that this offer did indeed contain malware that gave access to “all user data from both installed browsers,” including session tokens. Obtaining these codes gave the malicious actor a “replica” of the browsers that he could extract and use to cause huge problems without entering any code.

Linus Tech Tips, TechLinked, and Techquickie are now back online without loss, but Sebastian has some suggestions for YouTube to avoid future breaches of a similar nature. As he mentioned in his latest video, he would like to see more security options for some channel features because according to him, anyone can change the channel name without having to enter a password or use two-factor authentication. Another feature he’d like to see is some sort of confirmation or check if someone tries to delete group videos from a channel, especially one with a large number of subscribers (over 15 million).

“After notifying the Linus Tech Tips team that their account was compromised due to unauthorized access, our team investigated the issue and worked with them to secure and restore their account,” said YouTube spokesperson Elena Hernandez. the edge.

These types of attacks and access to popular YouTube channels have become more common recently, and changes like Sebastian’s recommendations are likely to prevent them from happening in the future. For more information on how the entire event unfolded, you can watch Linus’ video below.