Cyber Attack on YouTuber Ranveer Allahbadia’s Channels Sparks Security Concerns

On September 25, popular YouTuber Ranveer Allahbadia, better known by his channel name BeerBiceps, found himself the target of a significant cyber attack. Hackers commandeered his YouTube channels, altering their names to “@Elon.trump.tesla_live2024” and “@Tesla.event.trump_2024,” and proceeded to remove most of the content, including podcasts and interviews. These deletions were replaced with archival broadcasts featuring Elon Musk and Donald Trump.

The channels have since been removed by YouTube, and as of now, visitors to these pages see the notice “This page isn’t available.” Ranveer Allahbadia, who was reported to be in Mumbai at the time following some travel, has yet to issue an official statement on the incident.

Taking to Instagram, Allahbadia addressed his followers in an indirect manner. One of his posts showed him humorously attributing the channel issues to his fondness for vegan burgers, stating “Celebrating my two main channels being hacked with my favourite food.” Another post featured him wearing a sleep mask, with the caption “Is this the end of my YouTube career? Was nice knowing yall.”

Allahbadia, who launched his BeerBiceps channel when he was 22, has since amassed a wide following, managing several channels with a combined subscriber count of around 12 million. His content ranges from motivational speeches and fitness tips to lifestyle advice and interviews with eminent personalities from various fields.

The recent breach experienced by Allahbadia brings to light broader concerns about cybersecurity for digital content creators and public figures. It parallels another notable incident involving the hacking of the Supreme Court of India‘s YouTube channel, which was similarly disrupted to promote cryptocurrency content.

No updates have been provided regarding any potential measures taken to regain control of his channels. Such incidents underline the vulnerabilities that persist within digital platforms concerning unauthorized access and content manipulation.