YouTube has finger pointed at it over global cyberattack
- Monday, May 15th, 2017
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The recent global cyberattack has brought attention to another place in addition to the affected organisations and the US government – YouTube.
The video-sharing website been put into focus by The Sunday Times in an investigation that revealed that the Google-owned company had a number of videos that showed ‘step-by-step guides’ outlining how to build ransomware and how to infect peoples computers, as well as links to links to websites where ransomware can be bought.
YouTube has since taken steps to remove some of the videos and channels from its platform, though some may think it’s too little, too late.
The global ransomware attack on Friday (12 May) hit more than 100 countries and affected more than 100,000 organisations across the world including the UK’s National Health service, telecoms giant Telefonica, and courier delivery service FedEx.
This isn’t the first time that a Times investigation has highlighted YouTube. Earlier this year, the publication discovered that advertisers had been unknowingly funding extremism through advertising on the video-sharing platform. This would lead to several major brands pulling their ads from YouTube.