Everything We Know About The Reddit Hack Including Who Is Claiming Responsibility

Different groups were reported as being hacked on Twitter, such as r/TheDailyZeitgeist, a subreddit for discussing the iHeartRadio show The Daily Zeitgeist. Other people on Twitter showed other subreddits that were being attacked like r/tpb and r/StartledCats.

Someone from The Daily Zeitgeist subreddit posted screenshots on Twitter that showed that moderators had been removed and posts endorsing Trump for president were also shared in addition to the banners being changed.

A moderator in the r/SubredditDrama subreddit posted a list of some of the accounts that had been compromised in the attack, as well as information to protect information including changing your password, using two-step authentication, and checking apps that users don’t recognize. The moderator also suggested to be careful even when using these techniques. “[S]eeing reports that some compromised accounts DID have 2FA enabled. Make sure you have a unique password regardless,” the mod wrote in an edit.

Other subreddits that the moderator shared that had been compromised included r/BlackPeopleTwitter, r/3amJokes, r/NFL, r/PhotoshopBattles, and more. Many of these subreddits appear to have been recovered, with the banners removed. It also shared a guide to recovering a subreddit.

Reddit is looking into the attacks and fixing the subreddits that had been compromised. “An investigation is underway related to a series of vandalized communities. It appears the source of the attacks were compromised moderator accounts. We are working to lock down those accounts and restore impacted communities,” a Reddit spokesperson said in a statement.

In a post on the r/ModSupport subreddit, an admin said that Reddit was “working on locking down the bad actors and reverting the changes.” It told moderators of affected subreddits to comment with their community, and that all moderators and compromised accounts will be restored in due time.

The Subreddit Drama posted a tweet by someone claiming to be responsible for the hack, allegedly named “calvin goh and Melvern.” In a tweet, the hackers threatened to hack r/worldnews and r/pics. It also threatened violence against a Chinese Embassy.

The account’s bio reads: “This account and most of Reddit has been hacked by calvin goh and Melvern. WE STAND WITH DONALD TRUMP #MIGA2020!”