When thinking about computer viruses, the average user rarely stops to analyze the danger posed by portals like YouTube. It is usual to take extreme precautions in e-mail, instant messaging services such as WhatsApp, mass social networks such as Facebook or microblogging pages such as Twitter. However, in online audiovisual spaces, the guard is usually lower, and it shouldn’t be.
A recent investigation by the specialized company Cloudsek shows that these pages are not free from the threat of hackers either. Those in charge of this work reveal that hackers are using artificial intelligence systems to get their victims to download malware, that is, software that runs without their knowledge or authorization, onto their devices. of individuals to carry out functions that are harmful to the Internet user or his machines.
The situation was so serious at the beginning of February that it attracted the attention of the media from all over the world. In this context, information thieves are recruiting traffickers, accomplices who are able to find, steal and share data through Telegram channels and forums or in clandestine markets.
Hackers are gaining control of YouTube accounts with thousands of followers to upload videos incorporating these cheats. With this volume of views, the success of the fraud is assured. Moreover, there are also fake comments added for this same purpose. Links from Bit.ly or Cutt.ly, applications for shortening long URLs, round out the strategy.
Cloudsek experts claim that the increase in YouTube content that includes links to common sources of viruses has practically tripled since November 2022. Redline, Raccoon or Vidar are some of the most harmful recipients of the links studied by the staff of Cloudsek this company In terms of criminals’ preferred type of material, technology tutorials stand out.
Thus, it is common to find this deception in videos with instructions on how to get free programs that are generally only accessible after paying for a license: Autocad, Autodesk 3ds Max, Premiere Pro, Photoshop, among others. Artificial intelligence helps create capsules with unsuspecting-looking human beings to perpetrate these scams. Hackers use tools that are quite well-known in the industry, such as D-ID or Synthesia. Using this methodology, hackers obtain bank account numbers, credit card details and crypto wallets, passwords and other private data from surfers who simply clicked on a YouTube link to try out a free version of a program.
