Comedian and YouTuber Tanmay Bhat became the recent target of cyber criminals on Thursday, as his YouTube channel with over 4.4 million subscribers was hacked. This incident came to light mere hours after Barkha Dutt’s digital news platform, The Mojo Story, fell victim to a similar breach.
Bhat, co-founder of All India Bakchod (AIB), swiftly reported the hacking incident on his Twitter account, asking for immediate assistance from Google and YouTube. His tweet read: “Hi guys – my YouTube/gmail account has been hacked. 2FA bypassed. Need help urgently. Pls DM!”
Bhat’s YouTube channel, appreciated for its humorous content, skits, and podcasts, has been a major platform for his comedic expression. This breach has raised further concerns about the security measures implemented by digital platforms, especially considering the increasing number of such incidents.
YouTube’s Response
A YouTube spokesperson responded to the incident, stating, “We take account security very seriously and after being alerted by Tanmay Bhat of the account being compromised due to unauthorized activity, our teams are investigating the case. We are working closely with Tanmay Bhat to secure and restore the account expeditiously.”
The Mojo Story Incident
Notably, this cyberattack follows closely on the heels of another prominent breach, where Barkha Dutt’s The Mojo Story had its YouTube channel hacked. The platform’s content was completely wiped out, despite repeated pleas to YouTube for preventive action.
Veteran journalist Barkha Dutt revealed that her company had urged YouTube to freeze the account to inhibit further damage by the perpetrators. However, despite promises from YouTube’s Indian-origin CEO, Neal Mohan, to address the issue, all of the platform’s content had been erased overnight.
Adding insult to injury, the hackers went on to rename The Mojo Story’s account to “@teslanewstar05”, and replaced the deleted content with a video featuring billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk.