The Brief: Hackers have infiltrated more printers as well as the Wall Street Journal's website with pro-PewDiePie propaganda.

Bluesquiggle
DEEP DIVE

Just weeks after a hacker caused 50,000 printers to print out a flyer telling people to subscribe to PewDiePie, more printers have been hacked across the globe. In addition to a similar message that says to subscribe to PewDiePie and unsubscribe from his competitor T-Series, the hackers urge people to secure their printers from potential future hacks and to tell their friends to do the same.

The message, which includes the hashtags #SavePewDiePie and #PrinterHack2 seems to be a mix of  pro-PewDiePie propaganda, as well as a serious alert about printer safety. While gaining publicity for PewDiePie, these hackers are also raising awareness about a significant security flaw in the setup of many printers. Measures can be taken to avoid such breaches including being wary of what is connected to the internet, performing regular security audits, and installing security patches.

WSJ Website Hack

On December 17, 2018, hackers made it so the Wall Street Journal’s website posted an article “apologizing to PewDiePie.” This post was quickly taken down, but not before people noticed and archived it. PewDiePie fans may have beef with the WSJ because they published an investigation on him in 2017 after he posted anti-semitic, controversial material.

WSJ/webarchive.org

The hack took place in the sponsored content section of the WSJ. The fake article includes an apology to PewDiePie, a notice that journalists who wrote about him have been fired, and a call to action to “defeat” T-Series. The post, which was listed as “authored by” T-Series, ends with “We also need your credit card number, expiry date, and the lucky 3 digits on the back to win the chicken dinner in fortnite [sic].” The statement was followed by a link to subscribe to PewDiePie’s channel and several PewDiePie-related memes.

https://twitter.com/pewdiepie/status/1074706592350789634