4 ms·
> but the large scale of the incident suggests that the intruder(s) might have gained access to a high-privileged moderator or admin account. The fact that onl
by Hackbraten 6y ago
> but the large scale of the incident suggests that the intruder(s) might have gained access to a high-privileged moderator or admin account.
The fact that only certain, less-than-top-20 subreddits are affected seems to suggest that it’s just certain subreddit moderators who have been hacked, not actual Reddit admins.
I feel that distinction is important. Aren’t subreddit moderators just regular users anyway who happen to moderate a subreddit?
- julianlam 6y agoAssuming the worst is just plain bad journalism. Like you said, it's most likely a collection of compromised accounts collected over time (hence the odd collection of subreddits). The article (since updated) now mentions that some of the compromised moderator accounts admit they did not have 2FA enabled.
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- Barrin92 6y agoin particular because apparently very few moderators mod a ton of subreddits. I remember seeing some drama a while ago about some sort of excessively concentrated mod power.
- ffpip 6y ago4 users are the moderators of 96 of the top communities. Of course the same mods took down the post that pointed this out, saying it was harassment. These 'power mods' have full access to the sub reddit they are moderators of. They can push a post up or down the feed's algorithm , give it as many reddit awards as they wish and perma ban any user.
- jug 6y agoWith there being so few with that power, I fully expect them to have a special relationship with the admins themselves. From this, it follows that the admins might be very influential if they wish, using these few mods as proxies if the actions might be sensitive.
- duskwuff 6y ago> They can push a post up or down the feed's algorithm This is not, and has never been, the case. Moderators can remove posts and ban users, but they cannot affect the scoring or placement of posts (short of pinning up to two posts to the top of the page, which visually distinguishes them from other posts).
- ffpip 6y agoThe usual mods can't, but the power mods can. I know it sounds like a conspiracy, but these are trusted users with lots of karma. A normal mod has no power except remove posts and ban users
- duskwuff 6y agoI have never heard of or seen evidence of this before, and I've been using Reddit for the last ten years. "Power mods" is a colloquial term used for users who are moderators of a large number of subreddits (especially large ones). It isn't a separate, special status.
- PrintersDevil 6y agoYour list of things mods can do is totally wrong. Stop trying to get people outraged by parroting misinformation on topics you don't actually know anything about. That's the kind of behavior that's really ruining the internet, not "power mods".
- koop123 6y agoWriting pro-trump messages on an online forum isn't hacking...