The author of the column, ROCIT expert and director of information technology at Edge Center Sergei Lipov, discusses the dangers of YouTube video hosting.
“Video hosting YouTube is popular with people from all over the world. And, of course, the attackers know about this, which is why they are actively operating on this site.
For example, in early April of this year, the Proofpoint organization reported that hackers were spreading viruses through YouTube channels about hacked video games. Cybercriminals place links in video descriptions to sites through which information stealers Vidar, StealC and Lumma Stealer are delivered.
And this is not an isolated case of cybercriminals on YouTube. Information security companies have already repeatedly announced this threat over the years. For example, in 2023, Morphisec specialists warned that cybercriminals began to massively publish automatically generated videos on YouTube about how to hack well-known programs or games. Viewers of such videos were invited to try it themselves using the program, the link to which was in the video description. In reality, the link contained the Aurora virus, which steals information from the device.
A different story happened in 2022. Kaspersky Lab specialists have recorded a wave of videos that hide malicious links in the description. The videos were mainly dedicated to games such as Lego Star Wars, Final Fantasy XIV, FIFA 22, Spider-Man. Moreover, the videos were uploaded to existing hacked accounts so as not to arouse suspicion among the audience.
The list goes on and on, but one important question still remains unanswered: why does YouTube moderation allow this to happen year after year? In essence, the site’s moderators are frankly failing to fulfill their responsibilities and putting users at risk. At the same time, video hosting moderation is surprisingly active in deleting harmless videos and blocking channels of domestic bloggers, media, and government agencies that do not distribute dangerous content. On the contrary, they convey useful information to people. But it, of course, goes against Western propaganda. In other words, YouTube moderation is completely mired in bias, forgetting about the real threat to people – attackers.
To protect yourself from various dangers on YouTube, including the risk of becoming a victim of cybercriminals, Russian users should pay attention to domestic analogues of Western video hosting. For example, on “VK Video” or RUTUBE. Our sites are actively developing and becoming more convenient and attractive for users. It is important that domestic platforms take a more responsible approach to content moderation.
Our video hosting services are no longer inferior to YouTube. They just need more users and content to fully compete with the Western platform. And Russian bloggers and their audience can help our sites with this. By switching to domestic video hosting sites, they will protect themselves from numerous risks on YouTube, including sudden channel blocking, and will support Russian platforms. Thus, users and bloggers will contribute to strengthening Russia’s digital sovereignty.”
Photo: FederalPress / Ivan Kabanov
