The year 2020 seems like a year out of every cyber criminal’s wish list since the current year is severely dominated by the COVID-19 related cyber-attacks. Threat actors are making merry as millions of people still continue to work home and they are being exploited given the severity of the pandemic situation with cyber attacks.
Amidst various threats like phishing attacks and ransomware attacks, researchers have observed yet another trend across digital black markets and cybercrime forums. They have witnessed a steep rise in demand for stolen credentials of digitally distinguished YouTube accounts.
This surge is attributed to the growing popularity of users amongst masses during the lockdown or quarantine phase of the COVID-19 pandemic. This recent discovery and the sophistication of its execution against its vulnerable victims has resulted in more bots (Computers infected with malware) in which the threat actors can search for specific services.
YouTube accounts from these compromised or infected computer systems with logs of credentials that can be of high value. These compromised accounts can be used to blackmail the owner, spread malware through the account, and launch fraud scams against the viewers.
Cybercriminals view the accounts of popular YouTube personalities as an opportunity to generate revenue through extortion and other means.
Treasure of the Threat actors
A poll by an underground forum reveals that 80% of its members want to see more YouTube credentials being put up for sale. Some have reported that there were a few accounts on sale with 40k subscribers for a starting price of $400.
The time frame of this sale is fairly limited since the real owner of the account is likely to get in touch with the video-sharing platform and report their grievances.
It has been noticed that these YouTube credentials have been either taken from databases containing google credentials or from malware-infected computers.
A sure way to stay secure from such threats is by installing a sturdy antivirus and enabling its 2 Factor Authentication feature. eScan’s wide range of cybersecurity solutions enables users with such features to ensure their sensitive data stays protected along with their brand image.
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