TMZ Music: MySpace HACKED!

MySpace has been touted as almost a Messiah to the music industry over the past year, allowing people the ability to share their favorite artists with friends, listen to bands they love and discover new bands that they may never have heard before.

Green Tea Monkeys

Green Tea Monkeys, an indie ska/punk/reggae band from Germany, hoped to tap into MySpace's potential to achieve the success of other once no-name bands like Hawthorn Heights, Hollywood Undead and even Jack White's new baby The Raconteurs -- all were able to capitalize on the social networking site in their rise to prominence.



But what they never thought they would have to do is apologize to their entire fan base for unauthorized racist bulletins post under the band's name. "For us as a little band, it's worse when our fans won't believe in us ... to have to show people that we're not talking sh*t and that they can still believe and trust in what we're saying" they say.

Over the past couple of months, a rash of hacking has taken over MySpace, the most popular Web site since, well, the Web. The scale of the hacks has the MySpace community up in arms and is prompting people to ask when MySpace is going to step up.

The hacks are occurring through the bulletin section of each individual's MySpace profile. The extent of the hack is unknown, but as any MySpace user can tell you, in order to post a bulletin -- whether real or counterfeit - you must have access to an individual's account. That suggests that any and all information that a person has stored within their profile, including personal e-mail addresses, passwords, and e-mails, could be accessible to hackers.

Bunner on MySpace.comThe counterfeit bulletins causing the biggest uproar are those containing defamatory racial remarks that would make the grand wizard of the KKK blush. It appears that the three most common racist posts are: "I'm Gonna Kill Y'all Ni**as," "F*ck All Y'all Ni**as!," and "Get Out of America You F*ckin Ni**as!"

Each of these appears in the bulletin section -- with the user's name attached as the author of the bulletin. That means that every single one of the user's "friends" receives this information in connection with the owner of the account, who is listed as the author. Horror stories run rampant about the extent to which people have had to defend their character under these circumstances.

There's no way to measure how long the racist impressions will resonate before users have the ability to apologize and set the record straight. But then should MySpace users have to apologize for something like this in the first place?

TMZ attempted to contact MySpace for comment. We were not successful.

Reader Comments

(Page 6 of 20) Previous 15 Comments | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | Most Recent | Next 15 Comments

76. My page was hacked as well, but even before TMZ posted this article I already knew that hackers were tapping into people's account. I didn't know to what extent the hackers had gone to take over the entire network, but it looks like the hacking was starting to affect the entire myspace server system.

Thanks for confirming what I already knew, and as a precaustionary measure to all myspace users, change your email address to an alternative one and create a new password at least every two weeks.

Since I've changed my password and password, the hackers have not been able to get back into my account and they won't not as long as I can help it. We can't rely on the founders and board of directors of myspace to tell us the truth or protect us, we have to do it for ourselves. There is a bulletin circulated about this topic, pass the word and let's protect our accounts.

Sincerely,

Kesha Jenkins
PopThat Magazine
Editor in Chief
KJenkins@popthat.net

Posted at 7:29PM on Aug 3rd 2006 by Kesha Jenkins

77. this is crazy. i hate it.

Posted at 7:34PM on Aug 3rd 2006 by Chelsea

78. in response to bunnycakes... yes there are bigger issues in the WORLD than myspace. in fact myspace is a tiny thing compared to all the other corruption going on, but remember that corruption starts somewhere. MYSPACE has linked thousands of people around the world. ranging from young teenagers to grown adults. in fact a couple of my little sisters who have just entered high school frequent myspace. it is a problem that people are hacking into these accounts. it's information that can potentially if used the wrong way damage ones name, and to some people all they have is there good name. along with that there are other conserns with myspace, like how people can potentially be stocked on myspace. or how pimps seem to find their next "victims" on myspace. yes there is a big problems in the world, kids are going hungry, people have no homes, but right here under our noses there are people who's lives are being destroyed because people don't pay enough attention to simple things as a web site designed to attract people and link them with the world.

Posted at 7:35PM on Aug 3rd 2006 by KALOHE

79. So how am I supposed to believe this?

You make a statement, you don't back it up with any evidence, and to top it off you don't even offer any reasonable scenerios on how MySpace is being hacked. FIne you talk to a band who CLAIMS someone hacked their stuff but is it MySpace that was hacked or did one of them pick a stupid password? Maybe an ex-gf decided to screw with them?

Not only that but suppose they had a malware program on their PC and it forwarded their login/pass to a script-kiddie?

Yeah fine myspace had a Flash bug - but that wasn't myspace being hacked as much as it was Adobe. They admitted the problem, fixed it, and told the users how to protect themselves.

When you post something about HOW this is happening and how people can protect themselves it will look more like a real article and less like 'LOOK AT ME" BS journalism.

Posted at 7:35PM on Aug 3rd 2006 by Nathaniel BEall

80. I was wondering what was going on because my friend was goin tho this and one of those "F*ck All Y'all Ni**as!," came out. I was like omg why would he write that and I had asked him who had wrote that and Yea, he said it wasnt him. Also days after he was posting bulletins about a video site and a site were you can get money on. When i would look at his profile he wasnt even logged on that day that is was posted. Then a day later sumone messed up his page completely. I think this is awful that all this that is happening.

Posted at 9:31PM on Aug 3rd 2006 by Mace

81. N*gga -- in that exact spelling isn't even a rascist term (hackers ARE annoying but I think if thats how he spelled the word it was meant more as a "joke" -- even if it was lewd-- than a hate speech). I think most of the people here who are doing backflips over this are some pseudo-hippies somewhere in middle american suburbian white neighborhoods with too much time on their hands and no real life experience. Try living in a city for a bit -- that goes to all the illiterate idiots brainwashed by rap (not black) culture who go on and on talking about "yo dawg i am fo shizzy sorry 'bout dat evil sh*t my dirty ass cracka white devils did to ya'll i wish i were aint no whitey dog i be embarassed being a crack straight up dog lord is crying each and everyday what us white devils did fo' u son fo shizzy my heart bleeds my otha brotha if i could id give my life just to dry one tear of the black angels that fell under the rapist tyranny of my peoples, word". First of all not all white people were slave owners (so forget blaming automatically blaming a specific race -- blame the politics of the period at the places where it happened), second slavery and discrimination was manifested in just about every part of the world by every type of culture/race etc -- open a history book. The jewish people that were in concentration camps by the germans are currently doing just about the same thing to others in Israel (and so forth). It sickens me soometimes -- just how poorly people are educated nowdays. So we have some person on wellfare with a crack addiction and lifetime in crime ranting about something that happened hundreds of years ago which has been happening to everyone throughout history, who then goes out and sells crack and uses that "n word" with a tourette obsession. Personally if you really had an eye you'd see that many of these so called n*ggas are just social parasites, who are just lewd and impudent petty criminals -- and in this present era this so-called N*GGA can be of any racial origin -- including caucasian. People that just sit in their suburban upperclass neighborhood homes, never seeingthe real world once, complaining about how horrible someone is to use a word they don't know the meaning too is amazing to me (btw if you really analyze current trends you'd find that in reality a huge percentage of black people exhibit very rascist behaviour).

Posted at 9:34PM on Aug 3rd 2006 by Stewie Griffin

82. Nigga -- in that exact spelling isn't even a rascist term (hackers ARE annoying but I think if thats how he spelled the word it was meant more as a "joke" -- even if it was lewd-- than a hate speech). I think most of the people here who are doing backflips over this are some pseudo-hippies somewhere in middle american suburbian white neighborhoods with too much time on their hands and no real life experience. Try living in a city for a bit -- that goes to all the illiterate idiots brainwashed by rap (not black) culture who go on and on talking about "yo dawg i am fo shizzy sorry 'bout dat evil shit my dirty ass cracka white devils did to ya'll i wish i were aint no whitey dog i be embarassed being a crack straight up dog lord is crying each and everyday what us white devils did fo' u son fo shizzy my heart bleeds my otha brotha if i could id give my life just to dry one tear of the black angels that fell under the rapist tyranny of my peoples, word". First of all not all white people were slave owners (so forget blaming automatically blaming a specific race -- blame the politics of the period at the places where it happened), second slavery and discrimination was manifested in just about every part of the world by every type of culture/race etc -- open a history book. The jewish people that were in concentration camps by the germans are currently doing just about the same thing to others in Israel (and so forth). It sickens me soometimes -- just how poorly people are educated nowdays. So we have some person on wellfare with a crack addiction and lifetime in crime ranting about something that happened hundreds of years ago which has been happening to everyone throughout history, who then goes out and sells crack and uses that "n word" with a tourette obsession. Personally if you really had an eye you'd see that many of these so called niggas are just social parasites, who are just lewd and impudent petty criminals -- and in this present era this so-called NIGGA can be of any racial origin -- including caucasian. People that just sit in their suburban upperclass neighborhood homes, never seeingthe real world once, complaining about how horrible someone is to use a word they don't know the meaning too is amazing to me (btw if you really analyze current trends you'd find that in reality a huge percentage of black people exhibit very rascist behaviour).

Posted at 9:35PM on Aug 3rd 2006 by Stewie Griffin

83. i completly agree wit Bunnycake. y shud myspace get all dis attenshun for? therz mor importent tingz to wurry about in tha wurld then som ovrrated, addicting, wast ov life website....

Posted at 11:27PM on Aug 3rd 2006 by RavenWingY2K

84. There are problems with all sites. Myspace just happens to be huge. Alot of teens, and adults have one. "Tom" should have expected it. People these days have mad skills on the computer, he should have a hell of alot of firewalls, and security to protect not only his ass, but ours too.

Posted at 11:28PM on Aug 3rd 2006 by Your wish came true

85. my cousins account got hacked i think, because she keeps posting all these bulletins with links to sites that either dont exist or those stupid sites that try to get you to do all those "offers" and stuff, and ive asked her about it and she said "idk i dont post those they just appear" i dont know but i think this hacking shi* needs to stop. its bullshi* .
-Ally

Posted at 11:51PM on Aug 3rd 2006 by Ally

86. Someone said in a previous comment that, rather than allow their kids to join MySpace, loving parents should make their kids do homework or read the Classics. While those are exceptional and necessary activities, it is important to consider that MySpace is essentially a social environment, and so those activities would not suffice.

Myspace, IM, Email, etc, are all capable of producing good traits in people -- that is, if they can practice some maturity. What I mean by this is, it is so simple to just click on something peculiar. Just a *click* and you have what you want (not considering slow computers and such). But the honor in it is when someone sees something he/she KNOWS is "out of place" (in reference to viruses and porn and all that sh*t), and so he/she avoids it.

Wise people turn their profiles to "private" so they may retain their anonymity. They talk to people they know, i.e. THEY DON'T MAKE FRIENDS WITH COMPLETE STRANGERS!!! They may use the website as a simple way to contact a whole bunch of people they know for the goals of just keeping in touch, scheduling events, or maybe just entertainment. I mean, look at that place: it is probably the biggest network in the world with IM, a generic form of Email, a personal and customizable web page, bulletins that any friend can see instantly, and EVEN MUSIC...oh, must I go on?

MySpace is hardly the heart of blame for all the occurances of rape and murder and such. It happens all the time in the real world, but rather, it is the Internet as a whole that is being used as a tool BY the real world...and FOR the real world. As ideal a place MySpace is for ALL SORTS OF PEOPLE (in opposition to the statement that MySpace users are losers), no place on the Internet should be treated as some fairy-princess-whatever-place that you can stick your whole life into, and not risk it being taken or shaken. There is hardly a place in the real world like that. Everyone, you must use your street-smarts!

.......LONG STORY SHORT: MySpace is just a tool. A tool is not harmful if it is used the right way....

Posted at 1:41AM on Aug 4th 2006 by Wanderer

87. Yeah, such as learning proper grammar, RavenWingY2K (retard). All those people here talking about myspace being for losersmust be in serious delusional denial. By that logic we're all "loser's" since we use this nergy geek dork invention for dweebs called the internet, right? Myspace is just a conveniet extention of an e-mail account, not to mention a good way to keep in touch with friends that might have moved out of state (exchange media and find old friends from highschool etc) and so forth. It's not a dating service or a "tard zone" popularity contest, unless you make it one. But you must feel so hip to knock it, right? "people"

Posted at 2:44AM on Aug 4th 2006 by Stewie Griffin

88. i completely understand this whole problem! i have had this happen to me; but instead of racial comments ive had bulletins posted with me as the author containing a link to a porno site or stupid adds for "awesome ringtones" or "a free sidekick 3"

Posted at 2:46AM on Aug 4th 2006 by Shannon

89. holy sh*t myspace has been hacked! who cares about it or what was said I am by far not a racist but it is words typed onto a screen it isnt someone physically harassing anyone its ignorant to have such an outcry for nameless wussies who are probably 12 year old kids who are bored and rather computer savvy....as far as bunnycakes yeah theres problems in other countries but honestly I am tired of hearing about them too....what about our soldiers who are coming back from those godforsaken war torn countries to find no one wants them back our gov has no plans of "supporting" them if they are injured etc and like mercedes said we do have starving kids here in fact we have enough homeless starving natural americans that we should be ashamed to send anything to these other countries....but myspace is purly entertainment nothing more so get over it or log out for good but please stop bitching about it as for sexual predators yahoo chat aol chat any chat room etc offers them just as much as myspace does myspace isnt the antichrist parents who dont monitor their children are the ones in the wrong anyone knows you cannot trust teenagers we were all one at some point so it isnt up to website owners to watch your kids its up to you stop passing the blame to tv video games music and now the internet .....ok im done now

Posted at 5:00AM on Aug 4th 2006 by jeni

90. i realized my myspace had been hacked in when i was deleteing messages in my inbox, all saying read but when i got to msg: 33, it was unread, then msg 36, & i was like what is going on...then i could log in to my_myspace.....

so i went to FAQ page & clicked.....myspace page my b compromissed by hackers & typed in my email address.....

also viruses on my music video pasge where u can get codes to post on your myspace page......

so beware & have latest edtion of antivirus software & firewall blocker: that prevents unwanted pop-ups that also have viruses.................!

Posted at 10:27AM on Aug 4th 2006 by Anthony

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