Security News

Angry YouTube-dl users flood GitHub with new repos after takedown
2020-10-26 19:21

Users of the extremely popular YouTube-dl YouTube media downloader have flooded GitHub with new repositories containing the tool's source code after GitHub took down the project's repositories on Friday. On October 23, 2020, GitHub took down YouTube-dl's repositories due to a DMCA infringement notice filed by Recording Industry Association of America, an organization that represents the recording industry in the U.S. Before being removed, YouTube-dl's repo was in the top 40 most starred GitHub repositories with more than 72,000 stars, between Node.js and Kubernetes.

YouTube-dl removed from GitHub after RIAA DMCA notice
2020-10-23 18:35

The Recording Industry Association of America, Inc. has taken down YouTube-dl's GitHub repositories using a DMCA takedown notice. Today, the RIAA took down the YouTube-dl GitHub repositories by filing a DMCA infringement notice with GitHub.

£2.5bn sueball claims Google slurps kids' YouTube browsing habits then sells them on
2020-09-15 17:20

A campaign group is suing Google for up to £2.5bn over claims that YouTube breaks EU data protection laws by harvesting information about children under 13 - and is hoping to turn it into a UK class-action-style case. In a particulars of claim filed at London's High Court and seen by The Register, McCann said Google "Failed to obtain valid parental consent for the processing of personal data of children under 13 years of age, as required by law".

Bitcoin scammers take YouTube channels for a SpaceX ride
2020-06-11 11:24

Crypto scammers hijacked three YouTube channels to impersonate Elon Musk's SpaceX channel, offering bogus BTC giveaways that earned them nearly USD $150,000 over the course of two days. According to Bleeping Computer and the reports filed in the BitcoinAbuse database, the scammers took over legitimate YouTube accounts and changed the branding to look like that of Elon Musk's rocket company.

Bill Gates’s YouTube ‘Bitcoin giveaway’ is a big fat scam
2020-04-01 13:15

On Monday, a video of former Microsoft CEO Bill Gates could be found playing on multiple YouTube channels that were broadcasting a well-known cryptocurrency Ponzi scam, ZDNet reported. In November 2019, cryptocoin news site Coin Rivet reported that scammers were hopping on YouTube live streams to bilk people by posing as the official foundations and development teams of popular cryptocurrencies.

Phishing Attack Skirts Detection With YouTube
2020-03-11 19:28

Researchers are warning of an increase in phishing emails that use YouTube redirect links, which help attackers skirt traditional defense measures. If certain malicious URLs are blocked by web browser phishing filters, attackers commonly use a redirector URL to bypass these filters and redirect the victim to their phishing landing page.

Google has right to censor conservative nonprofit on YouTube
2020-02-28 10:44

Thus did the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco dismiss a top right-wing content creator's allegation that Google had violated its First Amendment rights by tagging dozens of its videos on abortion, gun rights, Islam and terrorism with its Restricted Mode and demonetizing them so the nonprofit can't make money from advertising. It's best known for its many 5-minute videos, some of which, starting in 2016, Google dubbed Restricted, including videos about the 10 Commandments, whether police were racist, and Israel's legal founding.

Facebook, Google, YouTube order Clearview to stop scraping faceprints
2020-02-07 11:30

A few weeks ago, Twitter told Clearview to stop collecting its data and to delete whatever it's got. Facebook has also demanded that Clearview stop scraping photos because the action violates its policies, and now Google and YouTube are likewise telling the audacious startup to stop violating their policies against data scraping.

YouTube Takes Steps to Stop Spread of Election Disinformation
2020-02-04 19:33

YouTube is the latest social media firm to adjust its policies as the 2020 U.S. presidential election gets underway. On Monday, the company announced plans to remove misleading political content and other disinformation from its platform.

Shlayer, No. 1 Threat for Mac, Targets YouTube, Wikipedia
2020-01-23 19:00

The malvertising-focused trojan known as Shlayer has burbled to the top of the malware heap when it comes to targeting Mac users. Shlayer is a trojan downloader, which spreads via fake applications that hide its malicious code, according to Kaspersky.