Imgur Used as DDoS Tool Against 4Chan

Today Malwarebytes users might have noticed, that a popular image sharing website Imgur has been blocked by anti-malware software.

The reason behind this is that a security researchers have discovered a vulnerable piece of code in the website, allowing cyber criminals to load malicious javascript code into the browsers of site users. Thus transforming each system into a DDoS weapon. In today’s case, this weapon was used against 4Chan and & 8Chan by currently unidentified hackers.

According to Malwarebytes:

The identity of the attackers or their motivation is unknown at this time, however it’s likely a group of angry sub-internet dwellers utilizing a flaw in the code of imgur rather than employing the use of a botnet (which is the traditional approach) or an army of equally angry users.

Imgur has since released a statement letting folks know that the bug in the code has been patched and that current visitors should be fine.

imgur 4chan ddos
Imgur Patch Statement

The code allowed cyber attackers to:

  • Transmit your passwords to attackers
  • Become a piece of a giant DDoS
  • Constantly load ads that pay attackers
  • Request edge load-tier child pornography from a honeypot without your knowledge

We recommend every Imgur user to clear their browser cache in case the malicious javascript is still loaded and active in the background.

In order to clear cache in different browsers please follow these instructions:

Clear Browser Cache

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.