Microsoft’s YouTube Channel Hacked [Microsoft Lost Control of YouTube Channel Briefly, but Thankfully No Pornographic Content was Posted]

Posted on TFTS by J. Angelo Racoma on Sunday, 23. October 2011 under: Audio,Visual, Internet Highlights, Social Tech

In another case of major technology companies experiencing serious security breaches, Microsoft reports that its YouTube channel was recently hacked.

Microsoft’s official YouTube channel usually shows marketing campaigns, events and the like. Recently, though, all of the channel’s archived content have been removed, and the videos were replaced by a couple of entries requesting for sponsorships. Earlier this weekend, Microsoft admitted to the breach, saying they were “aware that someone has altered the YouTube channel devoted to Microsoft videos,” and that they had been “working with YouTube to rectify the situation.”

A few hours after, Microsoft says they have regained control. “We have regained control of the Microsoft channel on YouTube, and we are working to restore all of the original content. We will continue to work with YouTube to ensure safeguards are in place for the future.”

The videos left by the hacker on the channel apparently tried to solicit sponsorships, as the perpetrator of the hack was anticipating an upsurge in traffic once the news of the breach reached media outlets. One message said “I DID NOTHING WRONG I SIMPLY SIGNED INTO MY ACCOUNT THAT I MADE IN 2006 :/”

Neither Microsoft nor Google (which owns YouTube) have disclosed information on how the security breach was perpetrated. This incident comes after another popular YouTube channel had been hacked. Sesame Street’s official channel, which features kid-oriented episodes was recently hacked and replaced with pornographic content.

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