Bluesky extortion problem gets first response; Mentions tab added

We learned earlier this week blue sky The ransomware issue emerged after the social network said it would use domain ownership as a way to verify the identities of public figures.

Bluesky hasn’t fully solved the problem yet, but it has taken a step towards reducing the problem of scammers impersonating famous people on the platform…

Blue sky blackmail problem

Cybersquatting – when someone buys the domain names of famous people to impersonate them, or tries to sell them at inflated prices – has long been a problem.

But social network Bluesky has made matters worse by announcing that it will use domain ownership as a means of verifying the legitimate owners of usernames on the platform. For example, if you own the domain johnnyappleseed.com, Bluesky will allow you to use the same name and domain on their network.

This has led to scammers trying to extort money by registering the domain names of some well-known people, and then pointing out that they won’t be able to use their names on Bluesky without acquiring the domain names. Bloomberg columnist Connorson Posted an example of one of the ransomware attempts:

Hi Connor. i own Connoson website You may know that Bluesky uses the .com domain to authenticate Bluesky accounts. bsky.social/about/blog/4….Now we are setting up an email signup form that includes your favicon for your domain.

If you choose try reporting and suspending bsky.app/. profile/cono… then you won’t be able to verify the domain yourself. It looks like the verified domain has been suspended. You can bid on the domain or do nothing.

tedious Pointing out that this sparked a debate about the authentic and fake versions of Hustle founder Sam Parr.

Added some protection

TechCrunch Bluesky has reportedly solved one aspect of the problem by protecting your original username when you switch to a custom domain.

Bluesky also adds protection against username squatting by retaining the original Bluesky username (.bsky.social suffix) when you change your username to a custom domain.

For example, if Johnny originally registered as johnnyappleseed.bsky.social and then updated it to johnnyappleseed.com, others would be able to obtain the original username. Currently, Blue Sky has blocked this behavior.

Your mentions now have their own tab

Additionally, the app adds a separate tab for Mentions instead of hiding them in the Notifications tab.

You also get new ways to sort replies.

Users can choose between linear and thread views. They can also sort replies using different filters, such as Popular, Oldest, Newest, Most Liked, and Random.

blue sky The number of users recently exceeded 25 millionbut so far Threads seem to have the best chance Designed to replace the social network formerly known as Twitter.

photography: John Marion exist Not splashed