The ransomware gang ALPHV, better known as BlackCat, has threatened Reddit with the leaking of 80 GB of confidential data. They demand that the popular community site pays $4.5 million (€4.1 million) and rolls back its recently increased API fees.
The ransomware criminals captured the 80 GB of Reddit data in an attack in February of this year, writes Techcrunch. The hackers mainly captured Reddit employee data and internal documents through a highly targeted phishing attack.
End-user data, such as passwords and other account information, would not have been stolen.
Leaks inevitable
BlackCat itself recently confirmed responsibility for the attack in February. The cybercriminals reportedly contacted the community site twice this year but never received a response. The hackers are therefore convinced that the company will never pay for the stolen data, so disclosure appears nevitable.
These new API charges have caused quite a commotion among end users of Reddit and related services in recent weeks. Due to the price increase, some services that use these APIs have since announced that they are terminating their operations.
Reddit itself has not commented on the news of the cybercriminals.
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