I am not a Tumblr user, but some in this community may be. It appears that the Tumblr website is in the process of being hacked by a group called GNAA. The hack is being reported on Gizmodo, mashable, and tumblr itself.
It appears that this exploit is designed to take over tumblr accounts and repost the message below across the site. So far 8,600 accounts have been compromised. From what I've read, your personal computer is not at risk - regardless of the operating system you are using to access the web site. The infection is initiated when you view a post which begins "‘Dearest ‘Tumblr’ users.’. The text of the (offensive) message reads:
Dearest `Tumblr’ users,
We have taken the liberty of upgrading your (rather tasteless, we must say) blog to our premier GNAA Deluxe Gary Niger (pictured to the left) Signed Edition! This is in response to the seemingly pandemic growth and world-wide propagation of the most FUCKING WORTHLESS, CONTRIVED, BOURGEOISIE, SELF-CONGRATULATING AND DECADENT BULLSHIT THE INTERNET EVER HAD THE MISFORTUNE OF FACILITATING. However, we do not believe you are beyond redemption! All you have to do is DRINK BLEACH AND DIE YOU EMO, SELF-INSISTING, SELF-DEPRECATING, SELF-INDULGENT EMPTY HUSKS OF HUMAN BEINGS. REPEAT AFTER ME: I WISH I WAS PROFOUND, BUT I’M NOT! I WISH I WAS ORIGINAL, BUT I’M NOT! I WISH MY IMPENDING DEATH WAS OF ANY CONSEQUENCE, BUT IT IS MOST CERTAINLY NOT! Your last chance for redemption hinges upon your death; your death which was most fortunately prescribed by your most unfortunate birth. Fret not, dear emo, your death will be regarded as a sacrifice to humanity; to die a martyr is a glorious death, and will likely be your highest contribution to society.
SHOUTZ: LITERALKA – DOLPHIN/DZL – BERRY/BRR – RORY – INFID3L – INCOG
P.S. Attempting to delete these posts will delete your tumblr account ;] But, by all means, go ahead!
Tumblr's response so far is:
There is a viral post circulating on Tumblr which begins "Dearest 'Tumblr' users". If you have viewed this post, please log out of all browsers that may be using Tumblr immediately. Our engineers are working to resolve the issue as swiftly as possible. Thank you.
Buzzfeed has some advice regarding this exploit (and if you can stomach it, some information on GNAA):
1) Maybe just don't go to Tumblr right now? This will be fixed soon, probably, but the exploit posts are embarrassing, and the more people get infected, the faster they spread.
2) If you DO go to Tumblr, only visit your Dashboard. Don't follow any direct links to Tumblr posts, or visit any Tumblrs directly — that's how this this spreads.
3) If you've been exploited, close all Tumblr tags, reopen your Dashboard, delete all the posts in your mass editor, and change your password. There's no evidence yet that this exploit actually accessed your account, or steals your password, but at this point it's probably still a good idea.
4) If you log out of your Tumblr account, you'll be able to view infected blogs without consequence.
I had never heard of GNAA before today, I will not post the meaning of the acronym (it's extremely offensive to both the LGBTQ and AA communities) - but if you demand more information about them you can follow this link to
Wikipedia.
11:11 AM PT: Update: According to PC Magazine, this issue is resolved. They include the following update from tumblr: "at approximately 1:30 p.m. Eastern that "Tumblr engineers have resolved the issue of the viral post attack that affected a few thousand Tumblr blogs earlier today.""