Popular comedian and YouTuber Tanmay Bhat became a victim of a cyberattack on Thursday, just hours after veteran journalist Barkha Dutt's digital news platform, The Mojo Story, suffered a similar breach. Bhat took to Twitter to report the incident, seeking urgent assistance from YouTube and Google. His account was eventually restored.
In a tweet directed at YouTube and Google, the AIB co-founder expressed his distress, stating, "hi guys - my YouTube/gmail account has been hacked. 2FA bypassed. Need help urgently. Pls DM!" The comedian's YouTube channel, which boasts over 4.4 million subscribers, is known for its humorous skits, podcasts and satirical content.
Responding to the hacking, a YouTube spokesperson told Moneycontrol:
“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."
The incident follows closely after the hacking of Barkha Dutt's YouTube account, which resulted in the deletion of all content on The Mojo Story platform. Dutt revealed that her company had repeatedly appealed to YouTube to freeze the platform in order to prevent further alterations by the hackers. Despite assurances from YouTube's Indian-origin CEO, Neal Mohan, that action would be taken, Dutt awoke to find all the content on her channel wiped out.
The hackers, who renamed The Mojo Story's YouTube account as "@teslanewstar05," replaced the deleted videos with one featuring billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk. The Mojo Story has regained access to its YouTube account.
In Bhat's case too, the channel was renamed to "Tesla Corp".
It is yet to be determined if there is any connection between the two incidents or if they are isolated instances of cyberattacks.
Barkha Dutt's 'The Mojo Story' YouTube account hacked, lost content restored
On The Mojo Story’s breach, a YouTube spokesperson told Moneycontrol, "We take account security very seriously. After being alerted by The Mojo Story of their account being compromised due to unauthorized activity, our teams investigated the case and we worked closely with The Mojo Story to secure and restore the account."
Discover the latest Business News, Sensex, and Nifty updates. Obtain Personal Finance insights, tax queries, and expert opinions on Moneycontrol or download the Moneycontrol App to stay updated!
