Is User Generated Content Becoming a Playground for Hackers?

This is definitely a growing issue! Some teams mitigate this by using sandboxing or virtual environments to test links prior to them going live. While it’s not foolproof, it helps catch the worst offenders before users encounter them.

I found some help from ActiveFence; it catches a lot of repeated patterns automatically. Pro tip: always check for repeated redirects across accounts. Have you tried looking for patterns that way?

In my opinion, this might be a case of confirmation bias. UGC has always had its share of scams. If you have an upload form, someone will eventually try to misuse it. I mean, you could scan a URL at the time it’s posted, but are you really going to scan it again years later if the site has changed hands? In a business context, it's crucial for me to be able to use custom subdomains for storage services.

Sometimes the simplest solution is just to reduce risk exposure. You could limit how many external links users can post or convert those links to plain text until they’re verified. It might slow down engagement a bit, but it could save you a lot of headaches.

Honestly, firewall protection has become pretty ineffective at this point. With all the encryption and obfuscation happening, there’s only so much they can monitor. Do you have any kind of email or endpoint protection? Also, it might be worth considering more training for users since they’re reporting these issues.