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from the it's-only-a-game...of-cat-and-mouse dept.
Hackers Steal Wealth of Data from Game Giant EA:
"You have full capability of exploiting on all EA services," the hackers claimed in various posts on underground hacking forums viewed by Motherboard. A source with access to the forums, some of which are locked from public view, provided Motherboard with screenshots of the messages.
[...] In those forum posts the hackers said they have taken the source code for FIFA 21, as well as code for its matchmaking server. The hackers also said they have obtained source code and tools for the Frostbite engine, which powers a number of EA games including Battlefield. Other stolen information includes proprietary EA frameworks and software development kits (SDKs), bundles of code that can make game development more streamlined. In all, the hackers say they have 780gb[sic] of data, and are advertising it for sale in various underground hacking forum posts viewed by Motherboard.
[...] EA confirmed to Motherboard that it had suffered a data breach and that the information listed by the hackers was the data that was stolen.
It's not like they could use the source and SDK to release a new game. What's the point? To better understand how the games work and write cheats? Break the servers? How much is that really worth?
Also at SecurityWeek, BBC, and Ars Technica.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by looorg on Friday June 11 2021, @01:58PM (1 child)
It might not just be about the money. There are bragging rights and "for fun" to. But there is a lucrative cheats market. If you could manipulate the matchmaking server to give you easy opponents etc that is probably something someone might want. Certainly so if E has weak anti-cheat options now. If winning games score you points or lootbox type things and you can fix those or manipulate the results in your favor. Also the entire blackmail- DOS-attack vector. Cause it might be hard for EA to defend the servers if the code is out there. While not a moneymaker gaining the ability or option to put up non-EA servers for the games is a niche to, as this could also then allow non-legit games to connect.
(Score: 2) by krishnoid on Friday June 11 2021, @06:25PM
Especially if it gets you on a professional team and/or subsequent endorsement deals, or even just more followers, if you're playing the long game [youtu.be].
The point is probably the same as the point of games in the first place; it's entertainment. Unless you're EA (or someone they hire for cybersecurity after this event), there's no direct financial benefit, I guess.