Reddit Hackers Demand a $4.5 Million Ransom and Cancellation of API Price Changes

Key Takeaways

• Ransomware group BlackCat attacked Reddit, demanding $4.5M and API rollback.
• Reddit's API price changes caused users and app developers outrage.
• CEO Steve Huffman stood firm on API changes despite the subreddit blackout and BlackCat's involvement.

In February of this year, the notorious ransomware group known as BlackCat claimed responsibility for a cyber attack on Reddit. They assert that they possess a substantial 80GB data trove from Reddit and are threatening to expose it unless their demands are met. Their demands are straightforward: a sum of US$4.5 million and the reversal of Reddit's planned API price adjustments.

BlackCat has made attempts to contact Reddit twice but has received no response thus far. In their communication, they expressed their satisfaction in exposing the various statistics and confidential information they obtained, highlighting Reddit's user tracking and alleged silent censorship practices, along with artifacts from their GitHub.

These API changes, which have caused a significant uproar among Reddit users and followers, were announced by Reddit earlier this month. The revised API pricing amounts to US$12,000 per 50 million requests, a figure that could severely impact third-party Reddit apps. Christian Selig, the developer of the popular iOS Reddit app Apollo, revealed that his app generates up to 7 billion requests. Under the new API pricing structure, this would require a staggering payment of US$1.68 million per month or approximately US$20 million per year.

The situation is compounded by Selig's revelation that Imgur, a widely used photo-hosting service, charges a mere US$166 for the same 50 million API calls. Selig explained that even if he only retained subscription users, who pay US$1.49 monthly, he would still incur losses due to the average Apollo user's 344 daily requests, amounting to a cost of approximately US$2.50 per month.

In response to the backlash, Reddit CEO Steve Huffman defended the company's stance, stating that third-party apps were never a core part of Reddit's design, and the proposed API changes would not be retracted. Consequently, several prominent subreddits went dark indefinitely to protest the API pricing modifications. Adding fuel to the fire, the BlackCat ransomware group became involved, introducing their own demands regarding the API changes.




Reddit declined to comment officially on the hack. However, Bleeping Computer reported that the BlackCat hack aligns with the incident disclosed by Reddit in February.

These new demands from BlackCat concerning API pricing changes have emerged amidst an ongoing dispute between Reddit leadership and engaged users. The announcement of potential million-dollar charges for third-party app developers prompted the blackout of numerous top subreddits, restricting new posts and public access. Reddit CEO Steve Huffman confirmed that the platform was not initially designed to support third-party apps and emphasized that the company would not back down from its proposed alterations.

It's worth noting that Reddit experienced a previous breach in 2018, during which a hacker gained access to user data, including email addresses and old usernames and passwords.

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