LTT YouTube channel hacked – Linus makes video in response
Let's hope LTT gets sorted soon
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Update: Linus has since reacted to the news
LTT YouTube channel hacked: Linus Tech Tips is one of, if not the most influential tech YouTubers on the platform. With over 15 Million subscribers, Linus and his team have made hundreds of videos, with content ranging from reviews to insane gaming and entertainment setups.
However, we have recently discovered that the Linus Tech Tips YouTube channel has been hacked. However, the LTT store and LTT’s Twitter both seem unaffected. It seems the breach is isolated to YouTube.
UPDATE – Linus makes a Video on LTT to discuss what happened with the LTT channel hack.
If you have been rightfully spooked by the contents of this article, you can check out our page on how to properly secure your YouTube account to minimize the chance of this happening to you.
Linus addresses the account hacking via video
All seems well thankfully with the LTT channel, almost 24 hours after the breach.
We’re very happy to see LTT back to its former glory, things need to change on Google’s end going forward to stop these account compromises. If it can happen to LTT via session tokens, it can anyone.
Linus Tech Tips YouTube hacked – Techquickie also affected
As of this morning, March 23rd, 2023, the Linus Tech Tips YouTube channel has been compromised.
The image has since changed, but the previous image depicted the tesla logo but has now been changed to the LTT logo displaying the @temporaryhandle handle, maybe in order to appear more legitimate.
Many surprised fans have taken to Twitter, expressing their concern for the LTT breach.
Twitter user @CharizardAW is one of many fans sharing stories of the hacking on Twitter. the screenshot also depicts the Tesla logo as part of the original breach.
@HardwareUnboxed even tweeted out a little joke at the expense of LTT, but we’re sure he’s greatly concerned for his fellow creator.
LTT YouTube channel has now been terminated along with Techquickie
LTT’s YouTube channel has now been terminated for Violating YouTube’s community guidelines. This might look bad from the outside, but this minimizes the damage the hackers can do to the LTT name. This also means that YouTube itself is now aware of the hack and will be working to get it sorted out.
Techquickie, LTT’s other channel has also been taken down, It is unknown by us if the hackers got to it, or if it’s just been taken down as a precaution.
Linus reacts to the LTT YouTube hack
Linus has now since tweeted about the issue. With just the text, “Yes I know -_-“, the main man himself has acknowledged what has happened.
This tweet is midday for us, but in Vancouver BC, where the company is based, it is only 5:30 am. So it is an early start for the tech giant, and likely a long day to try and fix the issues.
Although it should be easier with people awake now to address the issue. And we look forward to the WAN show to hear all the details.
Why was the LTT YouTube channel hacked?
It seems as though the channel has been hacked to push an Elon Musk Crypto deep fake scam, with 2 simultaneous live streams being hosted. Judging by the viewer count, however, it seems the LTT community isn’t falling for it.
Where are all the LTT videos?
It appears as though the LTT YouTube channel has been hacked to push a Crypto scam, with all of the original LTT videos being deleted in favor of a live video of an Elon Musk Deepfake.
YouTube has backups of every video, however, and it shouldn’t be too much of a problem getting the videos back. However, it’s 3 AM over in Canada right now. Who knows if any of the YouTube team is awake?
Who is responsible for the LTT YouTube hack?
We do not know who is responsible and we likely never will unless it’s released in some form of news, LTT is a pretty high-profile YoTube channel so hopefully, the culprit will be broadcast in some manner.
There have been lots of breaches recently outside of YouTube, but we don’t think this is connected to any of them. As soon as we learn anything we will update you on the matter, but for now, this is all the info available.
How did the LTT YouTube channel get hacked?
There are many different ways a YouTube channel can be compromised, and although youtube is incredibly secure for the most part, things still do happen. We know from Linus’ video that the account was compromised via session tokens.
What is a session token?
A session token is a piece of information that is stored locally by your web browser. The information is held after you log into YouTube, for example, to allow you to remain logged in across multiple browser sessions. And like anything stored locally, it can be accessed by bad actors if they gain access to your machine.
According to Linus, one of his team members downloaded a PDF from a prospective sponsor that turned out to be malware. The malware then gained access to information stored on the system and sent it to the bad actor, the session tokens being the Achilles heel.
Using the session token meant the bad actor didn’t even need to use a password, or bypass 2FA to gain access to the account.
Linus calls for changes to be made within the security sector of googles apps and platforms that require authentication when performing certain actions.
Let this be your reminder to not tell anyone your username or password for any reason, and never reply to or download attachments from suspicious emails.
