Reddit faces blackmail by hackers

Hackers threaten to leak 80 gigabytes of confidential data stolen from Reddit unless the company pays a ransom demand and reverses its recent API price hikes.

The BlackCat ransomware gang, also known as ALPHV, claimed responsibility for a cyberattack on Reddit systems that occurred in February. Although Reddit confirmed the hack at the time, they claimed that there was no evidence that users' personal data had been compromised. However, BlackCat now claims that they stole sensitive data during the hack.

In a post on a dark web leak site, BlackCat revealed their demands and stated that they had contacted Reddit twice without receiving a response. They are demanding $4.5 million in exchange for deleting the stolen data and for Reddit to revert its API pricing changes.

The API pricing plans have caused controversy within the Reddit community, leading to the closure of popular third-party app Apollo and the temporary shutdown of numerous subreddits in protest.

Reddit has not disclosed any further details about the attack or the nature of the stolen data. A spokesperson for Reddit confirmed the cyber incident but declined to comment on BlackCat's claims. It remains unclear whether Reddit intends to comply with the hackers' demands.