Some of the most popular music videos on YouTube appear to have fallen victim to a hack today. Vevo’s YouTube account was likely hacked which resulted in music videos such as Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee’s “Despacito,” which also happens to be the most-viewed video on YouTube, being defaced. The video’s thumbnail was changed to a gang of masked men holding guns, a still from the Casa de Papel series on Netflix while the description was changed by hackers who called themselves Kuroi’sh and Prosox.
The Despacito music video wasn’t the only one. Other popular music videos from the likes of Selena Gomez, Taylor Swift, Katy Perry, Drake, Shakira, and others were also defaced and their thumbnails and titles were changed as well.
While Despactio’s music video was taken offline from YouTube some time after the hack became evident, some of the other defaced videos remained online. It remains unclear if the hackers were able to access the individual Vevo accounts of each artist or if they used a wider exploit to gain access to Vevo accounts.
“Vevo can confirm that a number of videos in its catalogue were subject to a security breach today, which has now been contained,” said a spokesperson for the company, adding that “We are working to reinstate all videos affected and our catalogue to be restored to full working order. We are continuing to investigate the source of the breach.”