Reddit hacked after employee falls for phishing scam

A phishing attack occurs when the victim receives an email from a company that appears to be real, with several details for the user to feel confident and click on.

However, it is used to camouflage malware where criminals can take control of your device and access personal data. This time, a Reddit employee was tricked into allowing hackers to access the social network’s internal systems.

According to a post by a Reddit spokesperson, the company assumed it was the target of a sophisticated phishing attack. The fake emails copied the company’s internal platform with the intention of obtaining employee credentials.

After obtaining access data from one of the social network’s employees, criminals were able to access internal documents, codes and some information from business systems. However, Reddit stresses that the primary production systems, where the company keeps much of its most important data, were not invaded.

Apparently, the hackers obtained source codes, internal management information, business partner contacts, and former and current employees. However, Reddit tries to reassure by saying that sensitive data from those involved was not obtained.

The platform issued an alert for more social engineering scams, based on information obtained by hackers in the invasion. For security, WhatsApp asks users to turn on two-step verification and use a password manager to be on the lookout for other phishing attacks.