All news with #youtube tag

3,000 YouTube Videos Used as Malware Traps in Ghost Network

⚠️ Check Point researchers uncovered a long-running operation that uploaded and promoted over 3,000 YouTube videos linking to malware downloads. The network, dubbed the YouTube Ghost Network, has been active since 2021 and saw its volume triple this year, using hacked channels and a role-based structure to sustain distribution. Videos offering pirated software and Roblox cheats pointed users to cloud-hosted files or phishing pages that deployed stealers and Node.js loaders, and Google has removed the majority of identified content.

YouTube Ghost Network: Disrupting a Massive Malware Campaign

🛡️ Check Point Research uncovered the YouTube Ghost Network, a large-scale operation that used fake and compromised accounts to distribute infostealers like Rhadamanthys and Lumma. More than 3,000 malicious videos — often disguised as cracked software or game hacks — were reported and removed after being linked to password-protected archives that carried the malware. Compromised accounts, coordinated comment manipulation, and false endorsements were used to build trust and drive downloads.

YouTube Experiences Worldwide Outage With Playback Error

⚠️ Users worldwide are reporting a widespread YouTube outage causing playback errors and site load failures across web and mobile. Reports began within the last 30 minutes and affected regions include the U.S., Europe, India, Japan, and Australia, according to outage aggregator DownDetector. Some users see messages such as "Playback error" or "Something went wrong," while others experience slow or incomplete page loads. Google has not yet confirmed a cause; it remains unclear whether the issue stems from server problems, maintenance, or network disruptions.

Disney to Pay $10M Over YouTube Kids' Data Violations

⚖️ The FTC secured a $10 million settlement with Disney after finding the company mislabeled children’s content on YouTube, enabling collection of kids' personal data without parental notice or consent. The complaint says Disney applied channel-level tags that caused many videos to be marked as 'Not Made for Kids' instead of Made for Kids, circumventing COPPA protections. The settlement imposes a civil penalty, requires parental notice prior to data collection, and mandates a new program to ensure correct MFK labeling on future uploads.