After succesfully fending off an (alleged) hack attack by the Chinese government earlier this month, it seems that Google's technicians weren't quite fast enough to catch an attack on Youtube from an entirely different source: 4Chan.
Those of you checking through my previous post on suitable (and unsuitable) social networks may have noticed a tongue in cheek warning regarding the net's largest image board: 4chan (Caution -NSFW).
But now it seems that simply avoiding the endless, entirely offensive - and occasionally very funny - site won't help you. 4chan is allegedly making its own brand of web mayhem proactive - as YouTube discovered to their dismay this weekend.
Gaining entry via Youtube’s comments boards, various hackers managed to insert extra HTML coding into the site, causing endless popups, unusual video behavior and, thanks to a modified Rickrolling code, a particularly unsuitable rerouting of teen star Justin Bieber's videos.
Youtube’s comments system is overseen by Google, who were quick to jump on the bug on Sunday morning, shutting down comments within the hour as both Twitter and the Google support forum began reporting complaints.
While the bug itself was a fairly simple one, it does open up some interesting questions regarding security that we take for granted – should we start being less concerned about Facebook privacy settings and more interested in old school hackers?
Bieber has attracted particular ire in recent weeks, with a contest on his website being spiked as users attempted to send him on a tour of North Korea, and circulated claims that Playboy had approached his mother regarding posing for a centerfold spread.
UPDATE -As noted in the comments below the attack is now being attributed to humour site Ebaumsworld(NSFW). More info as it comes in.
Reader comments (12)
11:47AM on 6th July 2010
It Wasnt 4chan that done this, it was organized and done by Ebaums world.
11:55AM on 6th July 2010
yes it was ebaumsworld, they're forever doing things like this. they were harrasing a girl who wouldn't take her clothes off on a web cam the other day. so they completely ruined her trip to africa.
they should be shut down and the ringleaders sent to guantanamo bay
Head of Social Media at Econsultancy
12:00PM on 6th July 2010
Wow- fair enough guys - several reliable sources had confirmed this originated at 4Chan but if I've been misinformed then I stand corrected - total newf*g fail there! Blame (allegedly!) appointed to Ebaumsworld (also NSFW!). Thanks for the update, more info as it comes in.
12:42PM on 6th July 2010
Ebaumsworld had talked about doing something "big" for some time now. It has been said that Eric himself was attempting to gain notoriety for his site which has been known for causing small pranks here and there. They shouldve just left it at their crank call generators.this is just crossing the line.
12:57PM on 6th July 2010
It was most definately 4chan. 4chan use ebaums world as a scapegoat because of the whole nonsense of we are anonymous, we are legion, we never forget, we never forgive etc.
They do not want to spread that it was 4chan and attract what they call 'newfags' to the website. Hence the blaming of ebaums. Anyone saying it was ebaums that caused this are people from 4chan, primarily /b/.
1:47PM on 6th July 2010
4chan has been blaming Ebaumsworld for easily over 4 years, they were doing it back when I thought 'raiding' was 'epic'.
2:11PM on 6th July 2010
Ebaums is resonsiple for dis tragedy
2:18PM on 6th July 2010
4chan couldn't pull this off, they're too disorganized and too busy nypa to do something this epic
2:45PM on 6th July 2010
Notice the names of some of the people in these comments who are blaming Ebaums world.
I just looked at the forums for 5 minutes and determined that the people are quite sane. And I know for a fact that /b/ is far from sane. lol
4chan takes advantage of anonymity, they would have nothing to be afraid of. This is not the case for Ebaums...
2:50PM on 6th July 2010
I am sick and tired of Ebaumsworld blaming 4chan for every raid they do. It's like blaming the Americans for the Jewish Holocaust. Ebaumsworld is a place for wicked and merciless internet hackers out for 'lulz' and terror. Now they also blame 4chan for this attack against YouTube, Justin Bieber and all of his fans. This is hurting the good reputation of 4chan.
3:06PM on 6th July 2010
I don't believe it!
5:18AM on 31st July 2010
Hahaha, we aren't hackers. I did my part on that funny raid, and I must say it's just a simple game of copy and paste the <Script> tags and paste them in videos. We sure are hackers!
Log in to post a comment