The Bieber-YouTube-Porn Hack: Are Hackers Getting Meaner?

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John A. Angelillo/Corbis

Hackers just got a little meaner. 

On the morning of July 4, Justin Bieber fans searching for their favorite videos on YouTube were greeted with classic hacker calling cards, pop-ups and straight up pornography instead.

Rumors point to users who went to an online bulletin board that 4chan had infected with pop-ups announcing a (false) Bieber death, reading “Justin bieber died in a horrific car accident earlier this morning,” as well as some occasional redirects to videos that showed less Bieber and more… body parts.

While attempts to hack systems in a bid to steal information or corrupt systems are nothing new, the intentions of this recent attack indicate a whole new brand of hacking. One that sets out to, well, make kids cry.

According to Slashdot, “Someone found an HTML injection vulnerability in YouTube’s comment system, and since then sites such as 4chan have had a field day with popular videos.”

Just like stealing candy from a baby.

-By Ella Quittner