YouTube's most popular music videos, including Luis Fonsi's Despacito, were defaced by hackers

YouTube has fallen victim to what appears to be a high profile hack involving several of the site’s most popular music videos

Huge music video hits on the platform, including the most-viewed YouTube video of all time, Luis Fonsi’s “ Despacito ” were deformed by hackers.

[caption id=“attachment_4426097” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] A 3D-printed YouTube icon. Image: Reuters[/caption] According to a report by The Verge, the official video of “Despacito” was altered and replaced with an image of a gang holding guns. The description of the video was also reportedly changed by the hackers. The group of hackers involved in the act claim to be named Prosox and Kuroi’sh. As per the publication, a number of other popular videos on YouTube were also similarly defaced. The list includes songs by Chris Brown, Shakira, DJ Snake, Selena Gomez, Drake, Katy Perry and Taylor Swift. A trend that was noted here is that all the accounts hacked in this case were Vevo accounts and it is unclear yet whether the hackers gained access to individual accounts of artists. YouTube is yet to comment on the hack but at the time of writing the report, Tech2 can confirm that the videos are being repaired and that the “Despacito” video has been restored to reflect its original name and thumbnail. The motive behind the hack is yet unknown, but it is certainly one of the first instances where hackers have been able to gain access to multiple verified accounts on YouTube and altered them at will.