The official YouTube channel of the Supreme Court of India was hacked on Friday, September 20. The channel is displaying videos promoting XRP, a cryptocurrency developed by the US-based company Ripple Labs.
The YouTube channel streams important hearings including those before Constitution Benches and matters of public interest.
Hackers behind the crime appear to have made the videos of past hearings private and replaced them with content related to cryptocurrency. One video titled "Brad Garlinghouse: Ripple Responds To The SEC's $2 Billion Fine! XRP PRICE PREDICTION" was live on the hacked channel, during the time of writing this report.
The Supreme Court administration has initiated an inquiry into the digital attack, and the channel's link has since been disabled by the Supreme Court registry, Bar and Bench reported.
The breach occurred as the Supreme Court was scheduled to hear several priority cases, including a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) seeking a fixed time limit for the Union to notify judicial appointments recommended by the SC Collegium. The court was also preparing to hear the appeal from the Muslim side in the Krishna Janmabhoomi-Shahi Idgah dispute. The sensitive suo motu case related to the rape and murder of a trainee doctor at Kolkata’s RG Kar Hospital was also broadcasted recently.
Ripple Labs, the company associated with the cryptocurrency XRP, had previously sued YouTube in 2020 for failing to stop hackers from impersonating its CEO, Brad Garlinghouse, in cryptocurrency scams. Ripple operates an exchange network for XRP for people making international money transfers.