Linus Media Group YouTube Channels Hacked

[Dirt Chip]

The bar is open, drink as much as you can

 

[R0H1T]

No, it's a public service post to prevent people from falling to a crypto scam while also showing that even the largest of tech YouTube channels can be hacked.

But it wasn't YT that was hacked, was it? Someone at LTT probably made a mistake or fell victim to a scam & so here we are!

 

[ZoneDymo]

Good advertisement for them.....honestly I think the channel would be a LOT better if just Linus wasnt on it anymore...

 

[Chaitanya]

How these hacks bypass 2FA?

@R-T-B You know?

Most likely either by brute forcing or using OAuth integrations.

 

[JimmyDoogs]

Good advertisement for them.....honestly I think the channel would be a LOT better if just Linus wasnt on it anymore...

But then who will do drop tests on 4090 Strix cards? xD

 

[kondamin]

Crypto can't be banned soon enough.

No, we really need a global decentralized inflation proof method of storing wealth.
Crypto is a good first try.
Shame it's in shambles thanks to aholes like those from FTX and the idiotic move to proof of stake of etherium.
Inflation destroyed about 1/5 of our savings in the western world

 

[Mad_foxx1983]

was wondering how i subscribed to some tesla bitcoin channel

 

[Haziza]

I don't know but is this a bad thing?

 

[TheoneandonlyMrK]

Crypto can't be banned soon enough.

Damn bitcoin and it's hacking.

wtaf criminals do crime not Blockchains.

I like Ltt occasionally they're both entertaining and enlightening I hope they fix this and perhaps get a bit more serious on the server admin front.

 

[spnidel]

Crypto can't be banned soon enough.

money launderers love it, so it'll never be banned

 

[r9]

That sucks, I'd be interested to know exactly how these scammers accomplished this.

By exploiting people's stupidity.
Nobody hacks anybody anymore that's only in the movies.
People just give out their personal information and passwords.

 

[JimmyDoogs]

No, we really need a global decentralized inflation proof method of storing wealth.
Crypto is a good first try.
Shame it's in shambles thanks to aholes like those from FTX and the idiotic move to proof of stake of etherium.
Inflation destroyed about 1/5 of our savings in the western world

Inflation proof? Is Crypto inflation proof? Crypto seems extremely volatile from what I've seen. For me I'd be cool with Bitmining but it absolutely destroys the GPU market of the entire world. To me it seems that in itself will always cause Crypto to fail.

 

[N/A]

Shame it's in shambles thanks to aholes like those from FTX and the idiotic move to proof of stake of etherium.
Inflation destroyed about 1/5 of our savings in the western world

Yes it's a try, one of many very wasteful attempts. Are you serious. Crypto is inflating and deflating like a breathing of a whale. Proof of stake was a breath of fresh air for the video cards market. If this continues any longer, I'm just buying a PS5 and bye, good knowing you.

 

[FreedomEclipse]

On a side note - It will be interesting to see how long it takes youtube to restore his channel. Most Content creators have to wait anything between 3-6months and thats even with the CC themselves and their subscribers absolutely badgering the shit out of youtube support on twitter to do something and i havent even gotten to the part where the CC's call other CCs with contacts within youtube to see if they can do anything for them. As of posting, The channel is still gone.

Linus will probably have his channel back before the end of the week.

 

[DemonicRyzen666]

I don't care. -_-
I'm pretty sure linus got his traffic for his youtube site from another highly popular techforum website a long time in the first place.
To me this just seem like well. What comes around, goes around.

 

[kondamin]

Inflation proof? Is Crypto inflation proof? Crypto seems extremely volatile from what I've seen. For me I'd be cool with Bitmining but it absolutely destroys the GPU market of the entire world. To me it seems that in itself will always cause Crypto to fail.

Compare it to the Turkish Lyra, Argentinian Peso or Pakistani Rupee.
Those are of the top of my head and there are countries with worse inflation
Someone from that country keeping part of their savings in bitcoin would have left them with far more than just the scraps that would be left had they not converted it

 

[umdterps71]

Compare it to the Turkish Lyra, Argentinian Peso or Pakistani Rupee.
Those are of the top of my head and there are countries with worse inflation
Someone from that country keeping part of their savings in bitcoin would have left them with far more than just the scraps that would be left had they not converted it

And they would have been far better off in both scenarios buying dollars as most people do around the world when inflation is high in the local currency.

The only reason people use crypto in the 3rd world is for cheaper remittance costs.

 

[TheoneandonlyMrK]

I don't care. -_-
I'm pretty sure linus got his traffic for his youtube site from another highly popular techforum website a long time in the first place.
To me this just seem like well. What comes around, goes around.

If you don't care fine but I don't think Linus could have GOT 15million subscriptions without putting something worth watching together.

And you clearly know nothing of his wares and effort so why bother throwing your 10c in.

 

[FreedomEclipse]

I don't care. -_-
I'm pretty sure linus got his traffic for his youtube site from another highly popular techforum website a long time in the first place.
To me this just seem like well. What comes around, goes around.

A great majority of his subscribers knew him from back in the days he used to work for NCIX - A Canadian retailer. Linus was like the face of the company. He did the main bulk of all their social media stuff for them, especially when it came to youtube.

The owner of NCIX basically ran the company into the ground and a lot of staff got let go of. Im not sure if Linus was let go of or resigned (I think he resigned) but he ended up leaving the company and starting up a YT channel as a placeholder so people would know where to find him.

NCIX carried on being driven into the ground by its owner and Linus approached him to see if he could buy out the brand name or the company since the owner didnt seem to care anyway and linus had long been considered the face of NCIX with all the videos he did for the business. Owner wasnt interested in selling up so NCIX went bankrupt and Linus started up what became Linus Media Group and eventually Floatplane with a lot of ex-NCIX staff

I think Linus offered to buy the company off the owner at least on two or three separate occasions to save it from bankruptcy.

One thing that Linus did talk about in his video addressing his history at NCIX was that the owner maybe didnt seem to understand the social media side of the business and certain service related things like offering same day delivery if you were located within 5miles of a branch of NCIX that their competitors were offering.

They would hire their own staff to deliver stuff to your door if you couldn't wait for the regular delivery service.... Linus did push the idea across to the owner but owner wasnt interested in doing anything. Nothing was done and this is how they started losing a lot of business and eventually bankrupt.

The original owner either wanted to get out of the business completely or it maybe it was more of a tax write off for him if the business went down completely. I never understood why he didnt sell to Linus.

I understand that people might not like Linus but there are worse people out there that deserve that ire more than a guy who doesnt look or sound over 15 talking tech to you and constantly dropping $1000-3000 pieces of hardware on the floor and off desks.

Edited to add more context and easier reading

 

[RegaeRevaeb]

Maybe this article left something out, but is it accurate the only statement as of now is the one published to LMG's Floatplane subscribers, who are behind a pay wall?

 

[Fungi]

Maybe this article left something out, but is it accurate the only statement as of now is the one published to LMG's Floatplane subscribers, who are behind a pay wall?

Just signed up for Floatplane and the new LTT announcement (5 hours ago) is definitely locked to paid tier users. Not sure if they made a statement anywhere else but I doubt it...

 

[R-T-B]

How these hacks bypass 2FA?

@R-T-B You know?

possibly sim hijacking? Don't know for sure without more data on their 2fa type.

 

[JimmyDoogs]

Compare it to the Turkish Lyra, Argentinian Peso or Pakistani Rupee.
Those are of the top of my head and there are countries with worse inflation
Someone from that country keeping part of their savings in bitcoin would have left them with far more than just the scraps that would be left had they not converted it

So only recession proof for countries that have really bad recessions? I'm not trying to be hard on you in particular. I know you didn't coin the term because I've seen it around other places too. But there's definitely a big asterisk next to "recession proof" or "safe" when it comes to Bitcoin because the bubble bursts like crazy. To me it's just wall street dudes trying to convince people that bitcoin is safer than something like Bank of America when it's actually not. I know Bitcoin can make people bank but I swear I've seen more people say they've lost money on bitcoin then made money at this point, all while killing the GPU market since 2017. For 6 years Crypto has messed up the GPU market.. I say ban Crypto. It's literally ruining CAR prices at this point. It is NOT worth it on a global scale. For what? The rich to get richer? HARD PASS.

 

[RegaeRevaeb]

Just signed up for Floatplane and the new LTT announcement (5 hours ago) is definitely locked to paid tier users. Not sure if they made a statement anywhere else but I doubt it...

Thanks for the information. I find it interesting from a PR practice perspective how LMG is immediately working its crisis management. If it had a plan on the shelf, it's a bit of a head scratcher, like announcing in that locked statement an update would come by one of its shows -- and at some future time TBD.

It's smart to communicate to stakeholders, and especially ones like their Floatplane patrons. But given the nature of the business must be supported by its millions of subscribers on the various garden variety YouTube channels, and is also thus a big name in the tech media scene by that metric alone, communicating with all its publics in as an accessible way/or ways as practicable, is key.

It could easily post a statement on its website (yes, there is one) and point media there to disseminate it via their respective media channels to wider stakeholders. And, of course, a media release is a given. LMG doesn't even need to say much. It just needs to say something to more than a limited group.

Edit add: Sorry, this is all to say the organization should have had a ready made plan on the shelf. It makes one wonder.

I'll leave it at that for now as a surface look without knowing much for a close read of what happened and what else happens from a PR view.

 

[Dave65]

Oh Oh, Linus dropped it again.