Google takes site down after 20 minutes of smut The child-friendly Internet home of Ernie, Big Bird and Kermit the Frog went X-rate on Sunday as Sesame Street’s YouTube channel was hijacked to serve hardcore porn.According to security company Sophos, which noticed and took screenshots of the unsavoury event, the porn stayed live on the channel for around 20 minutes before Google itself took issue with the content, suspending it for “repeated or severe violations of our Community Guidelines.”In the circumstances, the suspension was a blessing in an attack that also saw the show’s YouTube profile altered to display a message that claimed to be by a hacker using the name ‘MrEdxwx’, apparently from the US.“Who doesn’t love porn kids? Right! Everyone loves it! Im (sic) Mredxwx and my partner mrsuicider91 are here to bring you many nice content,” part of the message read. Sophos reports that MrEdxwx later uploaded a video denying any involvement with the attack.“Now, if it really was YouTube user ‘MrEdxwx’ who hacked the Sesame Street account you would have to suggest he go back to his first day at school, because it would be remarkably silly to leave a message telling the world that he was the perpetrator,” said Graham Cluley of Sophos. Attackers taking over the social media accounts of celebrities or breaking into their websites is a common occurrence; YouTube account hijacks of major brands are much rarer, although Justin Bieber was on the receiving end of one attack in 2010. The root cause in all cases is most likely poor password security.The warning to other major brands using YouTube has been clearly underlined made once again. Related content news UK businesses face tightening cybersecurity budgets as incidents spike More than a quarter of UK organisations think their cybersecurity budget is inadequate to protect them from growing threats. By Michael Hill Oct 03, 2023 3 mins CSO and CISO CSO and CISO C-Suite news Cybersecurity experts raise concerns over EU Cyber Resilience Act’s vulnerability disclosure requirements Open letter claims current provisions will create new threats that undermine the security of digital products and individuals. By Michael Hill Oct 03, 2023 4 mins Regulation Compliance Vulnerabilities opinion Cybersecurity professional job-satisfaction realities for National Cybersecurity Awareness Month Half of all cybersecurity pros are considering a job change, and 30% might leave the profession entirely. CISOs and other C-level execs should reflect on this for National Cybersecurity Awareness Month. By Jon Oltsik Oct 03, 2023 4 mins CSO and CISO Careers feature The value of threat intelligence — and challenges CISOs face in using it effectively Knowing the who, what, when, and how of bad actors and their methods is a boon to security, but experts say many teams are not always using such intel to their best advantage. By Mary K. Pratt Oct 03, 2023 10 mins CSO and CISO Advanced Persistent Threats Threat and Vulnerability Management Podcasts Videos Resources Events SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER From our editors straight to your inbox Get started by entering your email address below. Please enter a valid email address Subscribe