A couple of days after reaching the 5 billion viewership mark on YouTube the Despacito video was hacked and put down. The effect was temporary but this was not limited to only this song but a few of other Vevo song were also affected.
On the whole, it was the video platform Vevo which was apparently hacked. Other singers, including Taylor Swift, Selena Gomez, Drake, and Shakira, were also affected by Tuesday’s disruption.
A Vevo spokeswoman said in a statement:
Vevo can confirm that a number of videos in its catalog were subject to a security breach today, which has now been contained. We are working to reinstate all videos affected and our catalog to be restored to full working order. We are continuing to investigate the source of the breach.
In case of Despacito video, the thumbnail of the video was changed with a group of masked men aiming guns. Some videos had their titles renamed to “hacked by Kuroi’sh and Prosox,” and “free Palestine”. Although the content of the videos was unchanged.
YouTube also jumped in to help Vevo:
After seeing unusual upload activity on a handful of Vevo channels, we worked quickly with our partner to disable access while they investigate the issue.
For now, the videos have been reinstated, the Despacito video is also online and has the same number of views.
