Reddit disclosed in February that it had fallen victim to a specific phishing scam. This revealed internal documents, dashboards, codes, and agreements, as well as the personal data of certain advertisers, along with present and former workers.

The public doesn’t seem to have access to any of the information, but that might soon change.

BlackCat, a ransomware group formerly known as ALPHV, claimed credit for the intrusion and asserted the possession of 80GB of compressed information.

In a post titled “The Reddit Files,” BlackCat declared it would remove the data provided Reddit gave them $4.5 million and halted rises of API prices.

Workers were given “plausible seeming instructions” for going to a website that looked just like Reddit’s intranet portal in BlackCat’s operation to collect the data.

One person fell for the ruse, which gave hackers access to their login information and second-factor credentials. The error was then self-reported; it is assumed that the safety breach did not expose the personal data of Reddit users.

After several months, the hackers have come out in the middle of widespread demonstrations against API price increases (yep, the same ones BlackCat is so eloquently calling for to be reversed).

Prominent third-party apps like Narwhal and Apollo have been compelled to shut down, due to rising costs. Christian Selig, the founder of Apollo, claimed he would have to shell out $20 million a year to remain in operation.

Developers worry that if third-party apps are lost, censorship will increase and there will be fewer opportunities for increasing ad revenue.

Up to 8,000 subreddits went down at once during a significant protest, but the response was mixed,and Reddit is sticking with its strategy.

Reddit CEO Steve Hoffman told The Verge that individuals who are upset are upset because they were used to receiving things for free, but will no longer receive them.

Additionally, he proposed making it simpler to fire moderators who don’t follow the “popular” course of action. Even while Reddit doesn’t appear to be changing its mind, several advertisers have stopped using the site while blackouts last.