"Sophos Warns of Discord-Borne Malware"
Researchers at the cybersecurity firm Sophos analyzed over 1,800 malicious files on Discord's Content Distribution Network (CDN) that were detected by the company's telemetry. According to Sophos, the number of URLs hosting malware on the collaboration platform's CDN rose by 140 percent year-on-year during the second quarter of 2021. Threats include information-stealing malware, backdoors, spyware, and ransomware. Discord is said to be attractive to malware operators because it provides a persistent, highly available, global distribution network and a messaging system that can be adapted into command-and-control channels for malware. Discord's wide user base also provides an ideal environment for performing social engineering attacks to steal personal information and credentials. One malware distributed via Discord was found to be capable of stealing private images from an infected device's camera. Malware spread through Discord is often masqueraded as gaming-related tools and cheats, as well as cracked versions of Photoshop and other popular commercial software. Organizations that use Discord for work purposes are urged to adopt multi-factor authentication, ensure that all work devices have up-to-date malware protection, and more. This article continues to discuss Sophos researchers' findings surrounding the use of Discord to distribute malware.