Anonfiles Shuts Down Amid Torrent of User Abuse and Malware Allegations

Anonfiles, which has served as a hub for anonymous file-sharing for several years, recently announced its shutdown, saying it had become overwhelmed by the challenge of handling user abuse.

This latest closure further underscores the dangers and difficulties of maintaining platforms that prioritize user anonymity.

Unfortunately, the platform, renowned for its commitment to user privacy by not logging any activity, became a hotbed for malicious actors. These users reportedly leveraged the service's anonymous nature to distribute stolen data, copyrighted material and credentials.

Disturbingly, certain users reported disconcerting behaviors when attempting to use Anonfiles. Allegedly, the website harbored questionable advertisements, including some that redirected to tech support scams, unwanted browser extensions and even malware.

As BleepingComputer reported, some made claims that attempting to download specific files redirected users to download malicious ISO files with the same names as the intended content. These ISO files, experts warn, were often contaminated with malicious content ranging from ad-clickers to info-stealers and remote access trojans (RATs).

A particularly concerning revelation from 2021 by CronUp researcher Germán Fernández highlighted that Anonfiles' malvertising campaigns promoted the RedLine Stealer malware, a dangerous program targeting credentials and cryptocurrency wallets. But that was just the tip of the iceberg.

Fernández also pointed out that Anonfiles inadvertently hosted various other campaigns pushing threats like the Vidar stealer, STOP ransomware, and Amadey botnet.

Visitors to the Anonfiles website are now greeted with a somber announcement highlighting the sheer frustration and helplessness the site's administrators felt:

After trying endlessly for two years to run a file sharing site with user anonymity we have been tired of handling the extreme volumes of people abusing it and the headaches it has created for us.

Maybe it is hard to understand but after tens of million uploads and many petabytes later all work of handling abuse was automated through all available channels to be fast as possible.

We have auto banned contents of hundreds of thousands files.

Banned file names and also banned specific usage patterns connected to abusive material to the point where we did not care if we accidental delete thousands of false positive in this process.

Even after all this the high volume of abuse will not stop.

This is not the kind of work we imagine when acquiring it and recently our proxy provider shut us down.

The platform's closure represents a significant loss to many legitimate users, especially cybersecurity researchers who relied on it for various resources. Now, with Anonfiles seeking a buyer for their domain, the future remains uncertain for one of the internet's most controversial file-sharing platforms.