Sesame Street's YouTube channel remains offline after hackers yesterday replaced the programme's cuddly and friendly characters with hard core porn.
The hackers left this message on the channel's profile information:
WHO DOESN'T LOVE PORN KIDS? RIGHT! EVERYONE LOVES IT! IM MREDXWX AND MY PARTNER MRSUICIDER91 ARE HERE TO BRING YOU MANY NICE CONTENT! PLEASE DON'T LET SESAME STREET TO GET THIS ACCOUNT BACK KIDS :( PLEASE...LET ME AND MRSUICIDER91 HAVE IT AND WE GONNA MAKE ALL THE AMERICA HAPPY!
Mr Edxwx who runs a gaming channel, uploaded a video denying any involvement in the hack.
The statement from Sesame Street read: "We apologise for any inconvenience our audience may have experienced today on our Sesame Street YouTube channel. Our channel was compromised and we are presently working with YouTube/Google to restore our original content. We always strive to provide age-appropriate content for our viewers and hope to resolve this problem quickly."
Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant at net security company Sophos said: "Attacks like this prove that websites with particularly vulnerable audiences need to be monitored regularly, and protected with the highest possible security controls. In addition, parents need to be extra vigilant about keeping an eye on the websites their children are visiting - and remember that even the seemingly most innocent websites can be compromised."
Last week David Cameron announced new measures for parents to filter porn and unsuitable sites from their family computers.
However, many ISPs said that his proposal would not work.
The Guardian reported that ISPs believe the new filter will make no difference to the majority of customers as the plan only applies to those taking out new contracts, and fewer than 5% of customers change ISP in any one quarter.