NATURE’s YouTube account has been suspended after being compromised by hackers who appeared to replace their videos with content about football club Manchester United.
Earlier today (August 3), a NATURE fan account noted that the name of the girl group’s official YouTube channel had been changed to “Manchester United”, its profile picture changed to the club’s crest, and a livestream video created featuring player Cristiano Ronaldo.
NATURE’s official youtube channel has been hacked and changed to Manchester United. All of their videos are gone! #NATURE #네이처 #HappyNatureDay #NATURE4thAnniversary pic.twitter.com/yCo6dpFmlc
— ˗ˏˋ nature pics ˎˊ˗ (@nature_archives) August 2, 2022
Several hours later, the fan account claimed that the channel had been suspended. At the time of writing, NATURE’s official YouTube channel leads to a page noting that it isn’t available. NATURE’s music videos, however, still remain available through Stone Music Entertainment’s official YouTube channel.
The apparent hacking incident comes at an inopportune time, as NATURE celebrate their fourth anniversary today.
🌿HAPPY 4TH ANNIVERSARY🌿
네이처의 데뷔 4주년을 축하합니다🎉
네이처와 함께한 4번째 여름,
함께해 주셔서 감4합니다! #NATURE #네이처#NATURE4thAnniversary#HAPPY_NATURE_DAY pic.twitter.com/W9yQnHgAbw— NATURE(네이처) (@nature_nchworld) August 2, 2022
n.CH Entertainment, the company behind NATURE, is said to be working on restoring the group’s YouTube channel. At the time of writing, however, the company has yet to release a public statement addressing the incident.
This isn’t the first time a K-pop act has had its YouTube account compromised by hackers. Earlier this year, music label AOMG and boyband A.C.E. both reported that their YouTube channels were hacked, used to upload videos, and then deleted. The official channels for both groups have since been restored.