A hacker has used an old video of Elon Musk talking about cryptocurrency to potentially infiltrate the South Korean government.
Elon Musk Is Constantly “Loved” By Hackers
The incident was reported during the early morning hours of a day in mid-September. A YouTube channel hosted by South Korean regulators that often features videos and commentary discussing incoming policies and government-based events was overtaken by the hacker. The channel presently has about 263,000 subscribers.
The person in question changed the name of the channel to “SpaceX Invest” named after one of Musk’s billion-dollar companies and took control of the account to stream an old video featuring Musk discussing the many benefits of digital currency.
The Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism of South Korea released a statement on the incident which read:
At 3:20 a.m., the channel name and profile picture were altered, and a live video was played on the account. The attack was brought to our attention at 6 a.m. and the channel was restored [at] around 7:20 a.m.
At the time of writing, South Korea has retained control of the channel and it doesn’t look like any lasting damage was done either to regulators or visitors of the page. The interview of Musk initially occurred when he took part in a speech at the Qatar Economic Forum last June. He talked about several things including bitcoin, Dogecoin, and his upcoming purchase of social media giant Twitter.
Musk has a bad habit of always being used by illicit actors in their crypto schemes. Many times, his face and likeness have been utilized for phony promotions on social media, some of which have resulted in lost funds amongst unknowing victims. One of the most talked about incidents occurred in the summer of 2020 when Musk – along with several other high-ranking individuals like former president Barack Obama and Microsoft magnate Bill Gates – had their Twitter accounts overtaken by an unseen hacker.
This Has Happened Before
The illicit actor – who later turned out to be 17 years of age – posted fake bitcoin giveaways on all their accounts and notified their followers of an alleged promotion through which by sending a certain amount of BTC to a controlled address, their funds would be doubled out of pure generosity. Not only did this not occur, but the hacker made off with more than $100,000 in digital currency funds. He was later caught and accepted a plea deal that would see him serve time in a juvenile detention center.
Musk is known for being one of the biggest digital currency hounds out there. The South African entrepreneur has frequently voiced support for assets like Dogecoin, and very briefly in 2021 did he accept bitcoin payments for new Tesla vehicles, though this decision was later rescinded due to his concerns about energy use for mining.
