A disturbing cyberattack on Discord reportedly sent some University of California, Irvine students to the hospital on Wednesday, according to a CBS News report. Hackers infiltrated student Discord servers and bombarded them with graphic images that reportedly traumatized students, causing them to cry, vomit, and even require medical assistance.
“There were some things on there that I just could really not unsee,” student Alina Kim told CBS. “Very graphic, violent.”
Roughly 3,000 students witnessed the gory cyberattack where hackers demanded a $1,000 ransom. Kim told NBC Los Angeles that the video included human corpses being sexually violated, people hurting animals and kids, and other images she could never forget.
The hack began on Jan. 9 but is ongoing as of Wednesday night. Kim and others have blocked the main accounts responsible on the school’s largest servers, but the students have been unsuccessful in quelling the breach. Students were so disgusted by the images they became sick.
UC Irvine told NBC Los Angeles that the school does not manage the Discord servers, and has no control over what goes on in the messageboards. “However, we take seriously our commitment to protecting members of our community.”
Discord did not immediately respond to Gizmodo’s request for comment.
The UC Irvine students say the hackers have hit other schools, including Washington State University and the University of Southern California. Gizmodo was unable to verify the other schools being hit.
Discord has fallen victim to hackers in the past. In 2022, hackers hoodwinked the messaging platform by impersonating police email accounts and got the company to hand over user data. The company said the tactic posed a significant threat across the tech industry at the time, and a month later, it came out that it absolutely did. Alphabet, Meta, and Snap Inc. all fell victim to the same trick.
The group of students has already contacted the UC Irvine police department and plans to contact the FBI about the cyberattack.