Discord implements 24-hour expiry for file links to fight malware

In a recent announcement, the company revealed that starting at the end of this year, all file links hosted on Discord will expire after 24 hours.

The decision to impose a 24-hour expiration on file links is a response to the growing concern of malware distribution through Discord's content delivery network (CDN). Cybersecurity company Trellix reported the discovery of approximately 10,000 malware samples circulating online, many of which were stored on Discord's CDN.

Attackers used the platform's webhooks to extract data from victims' computers and then post it to Discord channels controlled by these attackers.

Discord reassures its users that this change will not impact those sharing content within the platform itself. Links shared within Discord's client will be automatically refreshed, ensuring a seamless user experience. However, external links shared outside of Discord will become invalid after a 24-hour period.

The company intends to provide developers with additional information in the coming weeks, indicating that they may experience minimal disruption as a result of this policy shift.

As Discord takes this step to combat malware and enhance its security measures, users are advised to consider alternative hosting services for their files to adapt to the new policy.