Hackers replace Sesame Street YouTube channel with porn

Issued by Me Talk Pretty for Sophos South Africa
Johannesburg, 18 Oct 2011

Sesame Street's YouTube channel, a highly popular page containing videos of the Muppets, including Kermit the frog and Big Bird, was hacked on Sunday. The child-friendly content was replaced with something far less savoury: hard core porn movies.

The offensive content was available for approximately 20 minutes before the channel was suspended for "repeated or severe violations of our Community Guidelines”.

Aside from uploading pornographic videos, the hackers also changed the Sesame Street channel profile on YouTube:

“WHO DOESN'T LOVE PORN KIDS? RIGHT! EVERYONE LOVES IT! IM MREDXWX AND MY PARTNER MRSUICIDER91 ARE HERE TO BRING YOU MANY NICE CONTENT! PLEASE DON'T LET SESAME STREET TO GET THIS ACCOUNT BACK KIDS :( PLEASE...LET ME AND MRSUICIDER91 HAVE IT AND WE GONNA MAKE ALL THE AMERICA HAPPY!

"Mr Edxwx" has uploaded a video denying any involvement in the hack.

"The channel is regularly visited by young children and parents might trust that the page is safe for them to view,” says Brett Myroff, CEO of Sophos distributor NetXactics.

"These attacks prove that Web sites, with particularly vulnerable audiences, need to be monitored regularly and protected with the highest possible security controls. In addition, parents need to be extra vigilant about keeping an eye on the Web sites their children are visiting - and remember that even the seemingly innocent Web sites can be compromised."

NetXactics

Established in 1998, NetXactics is a South-African company that specialises in sales, marketing and distribution of IT and related products. Its approach is quite unique, focusing on long-term growth coupled with exceptional customer stability. NetXactics has also been nominated as one of the top ICT companies in South Africa for four years running, and has attained a level 2 B-BBEE rating.

For more information, visit http://www.netxactics.co.za.

Sophos

Sophos enables enterprises worldwide to secure and control their IT infrastructure. Its network access control, endpoint, Web and e-mail solutions simplify security to provide integrated defences against malware, spyware, intrusions, unwanted applications, spam, policy abuse, data leakage and compliance drift. With over 20 years of experience, it protects over 100 million users in nearly 150 countries with its reliably engineered security solutions and services. Recognised for its high level of customer satisfaction, it has an enviable history of industry awards, reviews and certifications. Sophos is headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts and Oxford, UK.

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