PARIS, France (CelebrityAccess) — Following the defacement of a number of high profile music videos on the Vevo service in April, Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance, Jr., announced that two French citizens have been arrested in connection with the case.
The two were identified as Nassim B. and Gabriel K.A.B, both 18, and were arrested in Paris, France, where they were charged by the Office of Paris Prosecutor François Molins (Procureur de la République de Paris) with crimes related to unlawfully accessing and tampering with digital content on the Vevo service.
According to the Paris Prosecutor’s Office and as alleged in this case, in April 2018, Nassim B. and Gabriel K.A.B., who also went by their respective online handles “Prosox” and “Kuroi’ish,” gained access to the YouTube account maintained by Vevo, a content hosting company that is headquartered in Manhattan. Nassim B. and Gabriel K.A.B. then proceeded to alter the content of multiple music videos, including “Despacito” by Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee, and other videos by Selena Gomez, Taylor Swift, Katy Perry, Chris Brown, and Shakira.
The affected music videos have since been corrected and reinstated by Vevo.
Vance noted the international cooperation between his office and French authorities that helped bring the case to a swift resolution.
“Since 2010, my Office has honed its expertise and invested in the resources needed to take on complex cyber investigations,” said District Attorney Vance. “Moreover, our secondment program with the Paris Prosecutor’s Office enables embedded prosecutors to provide on-the-ground support when it comes to malicious cyber activity that affects individuals and organizations in New York and Paris alike. I thank our international partners for their collaboration and extraordinary work on this case, and look forward to more and more investigations benefitting from this type of seamless, cross-border coordination.”
