By Illustration: Alex Castro / The Verge
A ransomware group is claiming responsibility for a hack on Reddit’s systems earlier this year — and demanding not just money but policy changes.
BlackCat, a ransomware group, says it was behind the February phishing attack on Reddit, as previously reported by Bleeping Computer. In a post shared by researcher Dominic Alvieri, BlackCat claims to have stolen 80GB of data from Reddit and threatens to release it publicly if demands aren’t met. The group wants a $4.5 million payout in exchange for the data and also demands Reddit roll back its planned API pricing changes that spurred user and moderator protests last week.
At the time of the hack, Reddit said hackers had used a “sophisticated and highly-targeted” phishing attack to get access…