Who hacked the Supreme Court's YouTube channel?

In a concerning incident, the Supreme Court of India’s official YouTube channel was hacked on Friday, 29 September, resulting in the promotion of cryptocurrency content, specifically from US-based company Ripple Labs.

A blank video titled Brad Garlinghouse: Ripple Responds to the SEC's $2 Billion Fine! XRP PRICE PREDICTION was being displayed, while previous legal proceedings had been made private by the hackers.

The Supreme Court typically uses its YouTube channel to livestream hearings. This initiative began after a landmark decision in 2018, which allowed for the livestreaming of constitutional bench hearings.

Recently, high-profile cases, such as the suo motu hearing of the R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital rape and murder case, were streamed live to increase transparency and public engagement.

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The hacking incident highlights a growing trend of cybercriminals targeting popular video platforms.

Ripple had itself sued YouTube for failing to stop hackers from impersonating its CEO, Brad Garlinghouse, reports Bar & Bench.

The report also added that ‘over the past several months, scammers have created official-sounding accounts for Ripple and its CEO Brad Garlinghouse.

‘Some of the accounts were apparently stolen from successful YouTubers who had their accounts hacked, giving the scammers hundreds of thousands of subscribers. From there, they could post videos offering big XRP rewards in exchange for smaller initial payments, bilking viewers who thought they were watching Ripple’s channel.’

Official sources told Bar & Bench that the administration of the Supreme Court was currently looking into the hacking of the YouTube channel.

With inputs from PTI