Reddit pages plastered with pro-Trump content in attack which used compromised moderators

By Stephen Warwick
published

"An investigation is underway related to a series of vandalized communities"

Reddit Hack
Reddit Hack (Image credit: @UnderTheBreach)

Reddit Hack

Source: @UnderTheBreach (Image credit: Source: @UnderTheBreach)

What you need to know

  • A number of popular subreddits have been vandalized with Trump 2020 messaging.
  • Reddit says an investigation is underway "related to a series of vandalized communities."
  • It appears compromised moderators may be the source of the attacks.

Reddit is investigating a number of hacked subreddits that were vandalized with pro-Trump messaging.

As reported by The Verge:

A number of subreddits were taken over and vandalized on Friday, possibly as part of a coordinated campaign. Hackers reportedly posted messages or changed a subreddit's design in support of President Donald Trump.

A spokesperson from Reddit told The Verge that it was investigating "a series of vandalized communities." According to the statement, Reddit believes the source of the attacks "were compromised moderator accounts" and is "working to lock down those accounts and restore impacted communities."

As the report notes, the full scale of the attack is unclear, but a list on the Subreddit drama page lists more than 50 accounts including:

  • /r/49ers
  • /r/Avengers
  • /r/bostonceltics
  • /r/Dallas
  • /r/Disneyland
  • /r/EDM
  • /r/podcasts
  • /r/rupaulsdragrace
  • /r/space

According to the post, redtaboo has verified that "none of the accounts that were compromised had 2fa enabled at the time". In a Reddit moderator post the company said:

Once we've cleared everything up, we'll be messaging all affected subreddits letting them know they were affected but the situation is now resolved. To be clear, many mods will get access back to their account BEFORE we send this message, but we'll make sure to close the loop with the message on the other side of this. And yes, we'll be doing a post-mortem of some sort in r/redditsecurity, though that will be a bit further out.

Reddit says it has since started messaging affected communities.

Stephen Warwick
Stephen Warwick
13 Comments
  • Reddit admins did a great job of quickly getting this under control. Prepare for more corrupt activity over the next few months.
  • That's what they get for censoring conservatives.
  • When did Reddit censor conservatives? I know the answer is never, but I would like to at least hear how you got this idea in your head.
  • https://www.foxnews.com/tech/reddit-bans-thedonald-and-almost-2000-other... Sorry for a fox News link. Just type in "reddit ban" into your preferred search engine. They claimed "hate speech" but based on their revised terms of service and the list of subreddits they closed, it's nothing of the sort.
  • Fox = Pro Trump.....
  • Who knew 2FA would help with Trump corruption? Set it up, people.
  • Oh, those Russians!
  • Typical crooked Republicans. Trumpsters are the scourge of society.
  • Calling half the country 'scourge' is a great way to have your opinions and ideas invalidated. Maybe realize that we all have to work together to get anything done and understand that both sides have valid arguments. If you listen to some of them, you may learn something.
  • Well the verge is a trumphating site, go figure....As a Swedish bystander i cant really understand how a (small but vocal part of the)nations people can hate the current president like democrats....most countries would love for a leader that was putting the nations interests first....
  • I wouldn't say republicans, I would say Trump and all his corrupt friends. Trump is a pure example of a pathological lying, disrespectful, dishonorable, cult leader! He is a horrible human being!!!
  • Definitely the Russians.
  • Just vote for the one you believe is a more decent human being. Trump aka lyingdonald, donthecon, crookeddonald is not a good person....Just look at all his lies and failed crooked businesses.