Being one of the most prominent figures in the online gaming community will mark a target on your back. That is exactly what the popular game developers Riot Games faced in the last week. They fell victim to a cyber attack, which has caused quite a headache for the developers. Riot Games are one of the most salient in the gaming industry right now. Especially because they are the ones responsible for two of the most popular competitive Esports games, League of Legends and Valorant.
Earlier this week, systems in our development environment were compromised via a social engineering attack. We don’t have all the answers right now, but we wanted to communicate early and let you know there is no indication that player data or personal information was obtained.
— Riot Games (@riotgames) January 20, 2023
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Thus, they are always in a vulnerable spot to get targeted. The developers are continuing to be transparent with their official statements on the cyber attack they faced.
Riot Games give more insights into their recent cyber threat
The past week was not a good one for the employees at Riot Games. The social engineering attack created a bump in their smooth functioning. They did not give many details regarding the attack at the time but now have come forward with more insights.
As promised, we wanted to update you on the status of last week’s cyber attack. Over the weekend, our analysis confirmed source code for League, TFT, and a legacy anticheat platform were exfiltrated by the attackers.
— Riot Games (@riotgames) January 24, 2023
The new official reports suggest that the hackers got their hands on the source code of League of Legends and TFT (Team Fight Tactics). A legacy anti-cheat platform was also ex-filtrated by the attackers. Valorant fans can sigh in relief as it was not infringed.
Read More: Shocking!: Popular Developers Riot Games Fell Prey to a Cyber Attack Earlier This Week
Riot Games received a ransom email regarding this attack. In the mail, the hackers were asking for a ransom of $1,000,000 dollars in exchange for not revealing the source code to the public. They also offered to reveal how the breach was possible. There was a tone of threat towards the company as well.
“We also want to remind you that it would be a shame to see your company publicly exposed, especially when you take great pride in your security measures. It is alarming to know that you can be hacked within a matter of hours by an amateur-level hack”. Was the threat that the hackers were putting toward the organization.
Riot won’t be accepting the ransom demands
Riot has informed the online community that they won’t be entertaining the whims of these attackers. Though these sensitive contents were infiltrated, Riot is assuring the community that the attackers did not get any access to the player base data.
Today, we received a ransom email. Needless to say, we won’t pay.
While this attack disrupted our build environment and could cause issues in the future, most importantly we remain confident that no player data or player personal information was compromised.
2/7
— Riot Games (@riotgames) January 24, 2023
Moreover, the developers informed and warned the players that as the hackers have the illegally sourced code; it is highly likely that new cheat codes may pop up in the games. Additionally, these source codes had data on the experimental features that Riot had planned for some of their games. These were just in the prototype phase and may not even see sunlight. But still, Riot wanted to have transparency in this matter.
Truthfully, any exposure of source code can increase the likelihood of new cheats emerging. Since the attack, we’ve been working to assess its impact on anticheat and to be prepared to deploy fixes as quickly as possible if needed.
3/7
— Riot Games (@riotgames) January 24, 2023
Currently, the security teams and consultants are working day and night to eradicate the current situation. The company also has taken assistance from law enforcement and is abiding by the investigation. Riot is expecting to sort all these messes out by the end of this week.
Our security teams and globally recognized external consultants continue to evaluate the attack and audit our systems. We’ve also notified law enforcement and are in active cooperation with them as they investigate the attack and the group behind it.
5/7
— Riot Games (@riotgames) January 24, 2023
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They are also planning to release an official statement after this ruckus is over to give the community a more detailed understanding of the situation. This includes a full report on the attacker’s modus operandi. Fans were also seen in full support of Riot Games.
Especially after their transparency about the issue and living up to their word of giving constant updates about the ongoing turmoil.
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We can hope that Riot Games sort all these problems out in the near future and the attackers are brought to justice.
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