- Hackers are increasingly aimed at the influence of social media and content creators
- Their accounts have huge range that villains can use to implement malware
- Supporters are often drawn in crypto -fraud and identity theft
Cyber criminals are increasingly aimed at the influence of social media and other popular individuals in an attempt to infect their supporters with malware, pull them into crypto fraud, or steal their sensitive information.
A new report from Bitdefender has warned that the trend was widespread in 2024, and is now also still until 2025.
Threat actors would first approach social media influence and content creators in different ways, the report notes -they may offer false sponsorship agreements, false advanced AI -driven video software or through simple phishing attacks. If the victim falls for the trick and downloads malware, attackers get to login -credentials for the various platforms they use (YouTube, Instagram, Tiktok and others).
Millions of people at risk
The platforms are then used to target followers in different ways.
E.g. Bitdefender says there were more than 9,000 malicious live streams on YouTube alone.
“These streams often occur legitimate at first glance, but they are controlled by hackers who have redirected compromised channels,” they said. Rebrand’s counterfeit bigger names such as Donald Trump, Elon Musk (a favorite among crypto sides), Michael Saylor or Brad Garlinghouse.
The researchers believe this is a major problem, with millions of people at risk. In fact, a compromised YouTube account was followed by more than 28 million people, and another compromised account has had more than 12 billion views in total.
“The staggering number emphasizes the global reach that threat actors can access,” Bitdefender added. “If cyber criminals convert only 1% of these views, it corresponds to a staggering 124 million potential victims exposed to scams, malware or data theft.”
During these live streams, Crooks would promote malicious domains that they can use to steal credentials, people’s cryptocurrency holdings or personal information.
Content creators are advised to tighten up security, while supporters must be skeptical of everything they see online, including information that comes from their favorite influencer.
