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YouTube Hackers Responsible for Vandalizing Vevo Videos Arrested

INDIO, CA - APRIL 12: Rapper Drake performs onstage during day 3 of the 2015 Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival (Weekend 1) at the Empire Polo Club on April 12, 2015 in Indio, California. (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images for Coachella)

Last month, the BBC reported that two hackers had targeted Vevo-hosted YouTube accounts of artists like Drake, Taylor Swift, Shakira, Selena Gomez, Luis Fonsi, and more. Calling themselves Prosox and Kuroi’sh, the duo replaced video titles with their own messages, including remarks to “free Palestine” alongside their own pseudonyms.

Now, two French citizens have been arrested and charged by the Paris Prosecutor’s Office in connection with the cyberattack. Born Nassim B. and Gabriel K.A.B., the two 18-year-olds were charged with crimes including the fraudulent modification, deletion, and extraction of data from an automated data processing system. As Vevo is a New York-based company, Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. has provided investigative support to the case.