{"id":43552,"date":"2021-10-21T21:12:46","date_gmt":"2021-10-21T21:12:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.darkreading.com\/threat-intelligence\/malware-abuses-core-features-of-discord"},"modified":"2021-10-21T21:12:46","modified_gmt":"2021-10-21T21:12:46","slug":"malware-abuses-core-features-of-discord","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.threatshub.org\/blog\/malware-abuses-core-features-of-discord\/","title":{"rendered":"Malware Abuses Core Features of Discord"},"content":{"rendered":"<div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/beta.darkreading.com\/images\/IW_LOGO_Thumbnail.jpeg\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\"><\/div>\n<div readability=\"48.854922279793\">\n<div readability=\"42.872686898594\">\n<p>The popular Discord online platform is becoming a tempting target for bad actors: Researchers found malware employing the core features of Discord to allow an attacker to take screenshots, run keyloggers, and download and execute files.<\/p>\n<p>The underlying&nbsp;issue, according to&nbsp;Check Point Research,&nbsp;is that Discord&#8217;s API is wide open and doesn&#8217;t require confirmation or vetting. That makes&nbsp;it ripe for abuse in malware development, botnet creation, C2 communication, and hosting malicious files. There are some 150 million active users of the platform, for chats, voice, and video calls.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Bottom line:&nbsp;The only solution is to disable all Discord bots, the researchers say.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Preventing Discord malware can\u2019t be done without harming the Discord community. As a result, it\u2019s up to the users&#8217; actions to keep their devices safe,&#8221; they wrote in a report.&nbsp;&#8220;As of now, any type of file, malicious or not, whose size is less than 8MB can be uploaded and sent via Discord. Because the file content isn\u2019t analyzed, malware can be easily spread via Discord. As Discord&#8217;s cache is monitored by modern AVs, which alert a user in case a received file is considered malicious, the files remain available for download. Until relevant mechanisms are implemented, users must apply safety measures and only download trusted files.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Read the full report <a href=\"https:\/\/blog.checkpoint.com\/2021\/10\/21\/using-discord-infrastructure-for-malicious-intent\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">here<\/a>.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div readability=\"10.473404255319\">\n<p>Keep up with the latest cybersecurity threats, newly-discovered vulnerabilities, data breach information, and emerging trends. Delivered daily or weekly right to your email inbox.<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"subscribe-btn dr-btn\" href=\"https:\/\/www.darkreading.com\/newsletter-signup\/?_mc=dr_eoa\" title=\"Subscribe\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Subscribe<\/a><\/div>\n<p>Read More <a href=\"https:\/\/www.darkreading.com\/threat-intelligence\/malware-abuses-core-features-of-discord\">HERE<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Researchers warn that Discord&#8217;s bot framework can be easily weaponized.Read More <a href=\"https:\/\/www.darkreading.com\/threat-intelligence\/malware-abuses-core-features-of-discord\">HERE<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"colormag_page_layout":"default_layout","footnotes":""},"categories":[151],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-43552","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-darkreading-ti"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Malware Abuses Core Features of Discord 2026 | ThreatsHub Cybersecurity News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"ThreatsHub Cybersecurity News | ThreatsHub.org | Cloud Security &amp; Cyber Threats Analysis Hub. 100% Free OSINT Threat Intelligent and Cybersecurity News.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.threatshub.org\/blog\/malware-abuses-core-features-of-discord\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Malware Abuses Core Features of Discord 2026 | ThreatsHub Cybersecurity News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"ThreatsHub Cybersecurity News | ThreatsHub.org | Cloud Security &amp; Cyber Threats Analysis Hub. 100% Free OSINT Threat Intelligent and Cybersecurity News.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.threatshub.org\/blog\/malware-abuses-core-features-of-discord\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"ThreatsHub Cybersecurity News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-10-21T21:12:46+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/beta.darkreading.com\/images\/IW_LOGO_Thumbnail.jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"TH Author\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@threatshub\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@threatshub\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"TH Author\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.threatshub.org\\\/blog\\\/malware-abuses-core-features-of-discord\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.threatshub.org\\\/blog\\\/malware-abuses-core-features-of-discord\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"TH Author\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.threatshub.org\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/12e0a8671ff89a863584f193e7062476\"},\"headline\":\"Malware Abuses Core Features of Discord\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-10-21T21:12:46+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.threatshub.org\\\/blog\\\/malware-abuses-core-features-of-discord\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":264,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.threatshub.org\\\/blog\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.threatshub.org\\\/blog\\\/malware-abuses-core-features-of-discord\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/beta.darkreading.com\\\/images\\\/IW_LOGO_Thumbnail.jpeg\",\"articleSection\":[\"DarkReading |TI\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.threatshub.org\\\/blog\\\/malware-abuses-core-features-of-discord\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.threatshub.org\\\/blog\\\/malware-abuses-core-features-of-discord\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.threatshub.org\\\/blog\\\/malware-abuses-core-features-of-discord\\\/\",\"name\":\"Malware Abuses Core Features of Discord 2026 | ThreatsHub Cybersecurity News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.threatshub.org\\\/blog\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.threatshub.org\\\/blog\\\/malware-abuses-core-features-of-discord\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.threatshub.org\\\/blog\\\/malware-abuses-core-features-of-discord\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/beta.darkreading.com\\\/images\\\/IW_LOGO_Thumbnail.jpeg\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-10-21T21:12:46+00:00\",\"description\":\"ThreatsHub Cybersecurity News | ThreatsHub.org | Cloud Security & Cyber Threats Analysis Hub. 100% Free OSINT Threat Intelligent and Cybersecurity News.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.threatshub.org\\\/blog\\\/malware-abuses-core-features-of-discord\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.threatshub.org\\\/blog\\\/malware-abuses-core-features-of-discord\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.threatshub.org\\\/blog\\\/malware-abuses-core-features-of-discord\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/beta.darkreading.com\\\/images\\\/IW_LOGO_Thumbnail.jpeg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/beta.darkreading.com\\\/images\\\/IW_LOGO_Thumbnail.jpeg\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.threatshub.org\\\/blog\\\/malware-abuses-core-features-of-discord\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.threatshub.org\\\/blog\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Malware Abuses Core Features of Discord\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.threatshub.org\\\/blog\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.threatshub.org\\\/blog\\\/\",\"name\":\"ThreatsHub Cybersecurity News\",\"description\":\"%%focuskw%% Threat Intel \u2013 Threat Intel Services \u2013 CyberIntelligence \u2013 Cyber Threat Intelligence - Threat Intelligence Feeds - Threat Intelligence Reports - CyberSecurity Report \u2013 Cyber Security PDF \u2013 Cybersecurity Trends - Cloud Sandbox \u2013- Threat IntelligencePortal \u2013 Incident Response \u2013 Threat Hunting \u2013 IOC - Yara - Security Operations Center \u2013 SecurityOperation Center \u2013 Security SOC \u2013 SOC Services - Advanced Threat - Threat Detection - TargetedAttack \u2013 APT \u2013 Anti-APT \u2013 Advanced Protection \u2013 Cyber Security Services \u2013 Cybersecurity Services -Threat Intelligence Platform\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.threatshub.org\\\/blog\\\/#organization\"},\"alternateName\":\"Threatshub.org\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.threatshub.org\\\/blog\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.threatshub.org\\\/blog\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"ThreatsHub.org\",\"alternateName\":\"Threatshub.org\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.threatshub.org\\\/blog\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.threatshub.org\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.threatshub.org\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/05\\\/Threatshub_Favicon1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.threatshub.org\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/05\\\/Threatshub_Favicon1.jpg\",\"width\":432,\"height\":435,\"caption\":\"ThreatsHub.org\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.threatshub.org\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/threatshub\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.threatshub.org\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/12e0a8671ff89a863584f193e7062476\",\"name\":\"TH Author\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/066276f086d5155df79c850206a779ad368418a844da0182ce43f9cd5b506c3d?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/066276f086d5155df79c850206a779ad368418a844da0182ce43f9cd5b506c3d?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/066276f086d5155df79c850206a779ad368418a844da0182ce43f9cd5b506c3d?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"TH Author\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Malware Abuses Core Features of Discord 2026 | ThreatsHub Cybersecurity News","description":"ThreatsHub Cybersecurity News | ThreatsHub.org | Cloud Security & Cyber Threats Analysis Hub. 100% Free OSINT Threat Intelligent and Cybersecurity News.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.threatshub.org\/blog\/malware-abuses-core-features-of-discord\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Malware Abuses Core Features of Discord 2026 | ThreatsHub Cybersecurity News","og_description":"ThreatsHub Cybersecurity News | ThreatsHub.org | Cloud Security & Cyber Threats Analysis Hub. 100% Free OSINT Threat Intelligent and Cybersecurity News.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.threatshub.org\/blog\/malware-abuses-core-features-of-discord\/","og_site_name":"ThreatsHub Cybersecurity News","article_published_time":"2021-10-21T21:12:46+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/beta.darkreading.com\/images\/IW_LOGO_Thumbnail.jpeg","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"author":"TH Author","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@threatshub","twitter_site":"@threatshub","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"TH Author","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.threatshub.org\/blog\/malware-abuses-core-features-of-discord\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.threatshub.org\/blog\/malware-abuses-core-features-of-discord\/"},"author":{"name":"TH Author","@id":"https:\/\/www.threatshub.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/12e0a8671ff89a863584f193e7062476"},"headline":"Malware Abuses Core Features of Discord","datePublished":"2021-10-21T21:12:46+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.threatshub.org\/blog\/malware-abuses-core-features-of-discord\/"},"wordCount":264,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.threatshub.org\/blog\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.threatshub.org\/blog\/malware-abuses-core-features-of-discord\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/beta.darkreading.com\/images\/IW_LOGO_Thumbnail.jpeg","articleSection":["DarkReading |TI"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.threatshub.org\/blog\/malware-abuses-core-features-of-discord\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.threatshub.org\/blog\/malware-abuses-core-features-of-discord\/","url":"https:\/\/www.threatshub.org\/blog\/malware-abuses-core-features-of-discord\/","name":"Malware Abuses Core Features of Discord 2026 | ThreatsHub Cybersecurity News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.threatshub.org\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.threatshub.org\/blog\/malware-abuses-core-features-of-discord\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.threatshub.org\/blog\/malware-abuses-core-features-of-discord\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/beta.darkreading.com\/images\/IW_LOGO_Thumbnail.jpeg","datePublished":"2021-10-21T21:12:46+00:00","description":"ThreatsHub Cybersecurity News | ThreatsHub.org | Cloud Security & Cyber Threats Analysis Hub. 100% Free OSINT Threat Intelligent and Cybersecurity News.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.threatshub.org\/blog\/malware-abuses-core-features-of-discord\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.threatshub.org\/blog\/malware-abuses-core-features-of-discord\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.threatshub.org\/blog\/malware-abuses-core-features-of-discord\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/beta.darkreading.com\/images\/IW_LOGO_Thumbnail.jpeg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/beta.darkreading.com\/images\/IW_LOGO_Thumbnail.jpeg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.threatshub.org\/blog\/malware-abuses-core-features-of-discord\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.threatshub.org\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Malware Abuses Core Features of Discord"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.threatshub.org\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.threatshub.org\/blog\/","name":"ThreatsHub Cybersecurity News","description":"%%focuskw%% Threat Intel \u2013 Threat Intel Services \u2013 CyberIntelligence \u2013 Cyber Threat Intelligence - Threat Intelligence Feeds - Threat Intelligence Reports - CyberSecurity Report \u2013 Cyber Security PDF \u2013 Cybersecurity Trends - Cloud Sandbox \u2013- Threat IntelligencePortal \u2013 Incident Response \u2013 Threat Hunting \u2013 IOC - Yara - Security Operations Center \u2013 SecurityOperation Center \u2013 Security SOC \u2013 SOC Services - Advanced Threat - Threat Detection - TargetedAttack \u2013 APT \u2013 Anti-APT \u2013 Advanced Protection \u2013 Cyber Security Services \u2013 Cybersecurity Services -Threat Intelligence Platform","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.threatshub.org\/blog\/#organization"},"alternateName":"Threatshub.org","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.threatshub.org\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.threatshub.org\/blog\/#organization","name":"ThreatsHub.org","alternateName":"Threatshub.org","url":"https:\/\/www.threatshub.org\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.threatshub.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.threatshub.org\/blog\/coredata\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Threatshub_Favicon1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.threatshub.org\/blog\/coredata\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Threatshub_Favicon1.jpg","width":432,"height":435,"caption":"ThreatsHub.org"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.threatshub.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/x.com\/threatshub"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.threatshub.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/12e0a8671ff89a863584f193e7062476","name":"TH Author","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/066276f086d5155df79c850206a779ad368418a844da0182ce43f9cd5b506c3d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/066276f086d5155df79c850206a779ad368418a844da0182ce43f9cd5b506c3d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/066276f086d5155df79c850206a779ad368418a844da0182ce43f9cd5b506c3d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"TH Author"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.threatshub.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43552","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.threatshub.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.threatshub.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.threatshub.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.threatshub.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=43552"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.threatshub.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43552\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.threatshub.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43552"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.threatshub.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=43552"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.threatshub.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=43552"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}