Anonymous file sharing service, Anonfiles has announced shutting down the site this week, after dealing enough with abusive materials being shared on their service.
Though it’s meant for providing anonymity while sharing files, many have used it for sharing copyrighted materials, malware etc – triggering its proxy provider to cut its access. Now, Anonfiles admins are looking to sell their domain to someone else, while the service remains shut.
Serving Malware For Years
Two years after serving the public, Anonfiles, a prominent site for sharing files anonymously is now shutting down. Several users of the platform have earlier noted timeouts while uploading files, which has now turned into a full blown outage.
The service’s shutdown is noted by a
cybersecurity researcher g0njxa, who said the reason behind Anonfiles shutdown is obvious – as the platform is used for malicious purposes more than the legit ones.
While the initial idea was to provide an anonymous file sharing service, without logging the users activity, the same perk is exploited by threat actors for hosting and sharing malicious files, including the samples of stolen data, stolen credentials, malware, and copyrighted material.
This aside, Anonfiles is infamous for its intrusive malvertising, where several ads displaying on the site redirect users to malware, tech support scams, and unwanted Chrome and Firefox browser extensions.
There are cases when the platform was spreading fake ISO files, that contain malware and ad clickers. One researcher even noted the file sharing site is spreading RedLine stealer malware, that can steal credentials and cryptocurrency wallets.
Despite all these, Anonfiles chose to put the blame on its users – accusing them of abusing the site for sharing malicious files, which triggered its proxy provider to cut the service. This ultimately led Anonfiles to shutdown its platform, while looking for someone to takeover their domain, probably to start a similar service afresh. Until then, all the links shared through Anonfiles remain inaccessible.
