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Internet security is a laughingstock. Nobody’s laughing this time. The hack of the much-loved Save A Fox Rescue YouTube channel is as downright mean as it is bizarre. It’s also a major hit to revenue for the rescue.

I got hacked a few years ago, and it wasn’t fun. This, however, is a gratuitous targeted attack on a charitable organization. These aren’t internet “Robin Hoods” at work. They’re criminals.

I’ve been watching SAF for years. I got a notification through Google that SAF was doing a live cast of a SpaceX launch. Not exactly core business for SAF, I thought.

Sure enough, I hit the SAF YT channel link and there was SpaceX, complete with Save a Fox verification ticked.

I reported it to YouTube, and notified SAF via Facebook. Apparently just about everyone else who saw the notification also did much the same.

This type of hack seems to be well-known in the more technical security issues. The redirect is part of the hack. It’s called “domain hijacking”, and it’s a messy event at best. It involves the registration of the URL, and that, as any website owner knows, is very much an acquired taste.

That means much work putting things back together after a hijack. The world needs quick fixes for these hacks. Any way of shutting down hijacks would be a big step forward.

Current scuttlebutt (unconfirmed but very plausible) is that Russian hackers did this.

(What, Russia is now heroically attacking animal rescues, too?)

Someone accidentally found a link to something called muskspace.org. as a registration in Russia. This is the parent name of the hack on SAF. The use of Musk and Musk-related names links indicates a specific profile attack and high searchability to attract victims.

Users are strongly advised NOT to hit any links on suspected hacked sites.

The SAF YouTube channel has 2.9 million fans, all of whom are now truly furious. I’ve always wanted to interview them, but these people are busy beyond belief.

To give you a very simple idea of their work:

They rescue foxes and adopt them out to suitable homes.

They’re currently rescuing and finding homes for 500 ex-fur farm foxes. This involves removing the foxes from a miserable environment and healing injuries, diseases, trauma, etc.

Animal rescued is 24/7/365 work and it never ends.

Vet bills and compliance are expensive and continuing.

They do a lot of educational stuff, promoting understanding of foxes and their needs.  

They also network with other rescues and manage rescue emergencies.

A year or so ago, they were working doing maintenance in sunny tropical Minnesota winter weather including a blizzard or two, to the point I was worrying about any possible accidents.

They’ve been the subject of a “controversy” on Reddit started by someone who can’t even read their rescue license properly.

A little bit of good news – A current search on YouTube indicates that searches for Save A Fox don’t bring up the hacked URL, which is at least some good news. Something has been done quickly, anyway.

Let’s hope this turns out better than it’s been so far. SAF deserves some peace.