Hackers are now reportedly using Discord to interact and spread their malware to various users. The Sophos IT security company warned the general public that hackers are now mobilizing en masse to the popular social app.
The malware included is potentially dangerous to the public and, once infected, would be very difficult to purge out.
Hackers New Den
Discord has become the favourite hub for hackers to collate and exploit their malware to many of its users.
A report published by Sophos showed that Discord is being used to distribute and exploit various amounts of malware.
Over the past two months, Sophos was able to detect 140 times the number of Discord malware floating in the platform compared to last year. It seemed that the issue is becoming more and more severe as each week passes by, according to TechRadar's report.
Sophos has identified over 17,000 unique malware URLs in Discord; 5,000 of which are still active up to this day, which is classified as information snatchers.
The malware threats can sift credentials and personal information.
Discord Malware Detected
Sean Gallagher, a Senior Threat Researcher at Sophos, said that Discord had been an enticing tool for cybercriminals. It's because of its vast infrastructure and large customer base.
"Discord provides a persistent, highly-available, global distribution network for malware operators, as well as a messaging system that these operators can adapt into command-and-control channels for their malware," Gallagher explained.
He further added that Discord has many users who are constantly online and provide an "ideal environment" for stealing information through social engineering.
How Does The Malware Work
It's often perceived that hackers blend their malware as useful tools to help players cheat in video games that younger audiences are more susceptible to, including titles such as "Roblox" and "Fortnite" that have the audience the malware is created for.
Tools popularly used are from streaming Netflix in Discord to using other third-party apps to improve gameplay.
However, there are also several instances that hackers would lure unwitting individuals into testing out a new game that is still under development.
Sophos was able to discover old ransomware dated back from the early 2000s still circulating as mischiefware. Ransomware operations are being cracked down hard this year given its potential violations.
It can revoke access to the victim's files and system without any hope of recovering them.
The report from Sophos also mentioned the quick and decisive actions that Discord was able to make in response to the numerous takedown requests. However, both Sophos and Discord have said that the users should take a careful approach against potential scams and malware phishing.
"Discord users, whoever they are and whatever they use the platform for, should remain vigilant to the threat of malicious content and not just leave it to the Discord platform to identify and remove suspicious files," mentioned Gallagher.
The good news is that the remaining 5,000 malware URLs have now been removed at the time of this writing. However, it will only be a matter of time until more malware is detected and new reports pop up.
As always, make sure that you're doing all you can to be informed about malware by reading more articles like these here at Tech Times.
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Written by Alec G.
