Lovely Runner scene streamed on tvN’s YouTube channel (Captured from official tvN YouTube)
YouTube channels of the South Korean entertainment powerhouse CJ ENM Co.’s units with more than 8 million subscribers were disrupted for 14 hours by cyberattacks, allegedly by crypto bros, dogmatic and condescending supporters of virtual currencies, industry sources said on Sunday.
Official channels of tvN dramas and TVing – CJ ENM’s affiliated TV station and over-the-top service – on the world’s largest online video-sharing platform were hacked at around 4 am local time on Saturday, according to the sources.
The two channels provide popular South Korean content such as drama series and entertainment shows. The drama YouTube account of tvN, which aired box-office hit series such as Lovely Runner, has 7.1 million subscribers, while the channel of TVing has 985,000 subscribers.
The cyberattacks removed or hid most video clips uploaded on the two channels and only showed the logo of US crypto firm Ripple while changing their names to the virtual currency company.
Those channels were recovered by YouTube’s support and provided normal services at around 6 pm.
“The cyberattacks by external hackers changed the names of the channels and uploaded irrelevant content,” said TVing and tvN. “We are sorry for the inconvenience and hope users understand.”
GROWING CYBERATTACKS
Official YouTube channels of South Korea’s major public and private institutions have been suffering from growing cyberattacks.
The cyberattacks reported in South Korea rose 12% to 1,277 cases in 2023 compared to the previous year.
In March, the official channel of K-pop star Ive with 3.7 million subscribers was hacked with its name changed to SpaceX, the rocket and spacecraft manufacturer founded by Tesla Inc. Chief Executive Elon Musk.
Ive’s Accendio music video (Ive’s official YouTube channel)
The South Korean government’s YouTube accounts were attacked in September 2022. The names of the administration’s channel, which is operated by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, and the Korea Tourism Organization were changed.
The cyberattack on the South Korean 24-hour TV news channel YTN’s YouTube account hid the existing video clips while showing only films promoting cryptocurrencies for about two and a half hours in June 2022.
Many popular individuals’ YouTube channels were hacked streaming videos advertising cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin and Ethereum instead of original clips.
CRYPTO BROS
Crypto bros — individuals within the cryptocurrency community who exhibit certain discernible traits, creating a subculture that can be exclusionary and contentious – were suspected of launching most of the attacks, industry sources in Seoul said.
The Ministry of Science and ICT said there are few measures to prevent hacks on YouTube channels as individual companies’ server managements cannot prevent such attacks.
Cyberpunks penetrate the vulnerabilities of individual computers, which operate YouTube accounts.
“We need to develop countermeasures accordingly as cyberattacks are evolving intelligently and professionally,” said an official at the Korea Internet & Security Agency under the ministry.
The agency currently handles cyber security issues of the private sector, while the National Intelligence Service manages those of the public sector.
By Ji-Eun Jeong and Dong-jin Hwang
jeong@hankyung.com
Jongwoo Cheon edited this article.
