Reddit data hackers threaten to release 80GB

Reddit must pay a ransom or release stolen data.

The BlackCat ransomware gang, also known as ALPHV, posted on its dark web leak site that it stole 80 gigabytes of compressed Reddit data in February.

Reddit spokesperson Gina Antonini declined TechCrunch’s questions but confirmed that BlackCat’s claims relate to a cyber incident Reddit confirmed on February 9. Reddit CTO Christopher Slowe, aka KeyserSosa, said hackers accessed employee data and internal documents during a “highly-targeted” phishing attack. Slowe said the company had “no evidence” that passwords and accounts were stolen.

Reddit didn’t reveal the attack’s perpetrator. Over the weekend, BlackCat admitted to the February intrusion and threatened to release “confidential” data. BlackCat has not revealed what data the hackers stole.

Western Digital was hacked in March and lost 10 terabytes of data, including customer data, by BlackCat. In the same month, the gang threatened to release data allegedly stolen from Amazon-owned Ring.

BlackCat claims in a Saturday post, “The Reddit Files,” that it contacted Reddit twice, on April 13 and June 16, but received no response. In my first email, I said I would wait for their IPO. This seems ideal! “We are confident that Reddit will not pay for their data,” BlackCat wrote. “Data will leak.”

The hackers want $4.5 million to delete the data and reverse Reddit’s API pricing changes.

In recent weeks, popular third-party Reddit app Apollo has announced its closure due to the new API pricing, and thousands of subreddits have gone dark in protest, including r/music and r/videos.

Reddit declined TechCrunch’s request to respond to BlackCat’s demands.

In 2018, attackers stole all Reddit data from 2007. This included usernames, hashed passwords, emails, public posts, and private messages.