Source Code For FIFA’21 Stolen, Gaming Giant EA Hacked
Electronic Arts, the developer of major video games such as FIFA; Madden, Sims, and Medal of Honor; announced that it was investigating a network attack that resulted in the theft of game source code and tools. “We’ve already made security upgrades and don’t expect any impact on our games or our business” says the company. An E.A. spokeswoman said; adding that the company was working with law enforcement officials to investigate. Moreover, the Company stated that; there no user data was affected.
Hacker or hackers Claimed to Stole Important Source Code:
Secondly, The hacker or hackers claimed to have stolen important source code; for the 2021 edition of the popular soccer game FIFA; as well as data related to a gaming creation engine called Frostbite; according to online posts made in early June on an underground forum frequented by cyber criminals. Furthermore, The posts were reviewed by Intel 471; a cybercrime intelligence firm, which said the hackers were advertising about 800 gigabytes worth of data.
As early as May, according to Michael DeBolt; Intel 471’s senior vice president of intelligence, a hacker was promoting stolen E.A. data on a Russian-language forum. Mr. DeBolt said the hacker offered the stolen data for a beginning bid of $500,000; although it was unclear whether a sale; had been made or if the many people promoting the data were connected.
Source code is a version of computer software that is usually much easier to read and understand than the end version in a finished product; could be used to reverse engineer parts of the product. For example, the Frostbite engine, which hackers claim to have the source code for; is a powerful game creation tool used in dozens of games; from FIFA to the Battlefield series and several recent Star Wars games from EA. The Source code stolen was very important to the company as it was quite expensive. The company has informed the higher level and discussions are made on what to do next to solve the problem.
Value of the Source Code:
Moreover, The source code for the engine could hold significant value for an unscrupulous developer willing to copy it, or for those making cheat codes and hacks for games. But it is unlikely that any mainstream competitor to EA would ever use such stolen data. Furthermore, It is the latest in a string of high-profile gaming company hacks. In November last year, Capcom, the maker of Street Fighter and Resident Evil, suffered a ransomware attack which may have revealed the personal information of up to 350,000 people. Lastly, In that case, the hackers claimed to have sold the data for more than $7m (£4.9m); though it is not clear if the sale actually happened.
The hackers who hacked EA have full access to everything on FIFA and it’s source code and tools and everything for FIFA22 and are SELLING everything.. This is not gonna end good. 😬 pic.twitter.com/yGwQU7Ya0I
— FUTZone | #FIFA21 News (@FUTZONECENTRAL) June 11, 2021
#ElectronicArts (EA) was hacked the other day. The hackers apparently have stolen around 720GB of data and the source code for #FIFA21. Fortunately, no player data was stolen 🙌 #gamingnews pic.twitter.com/rUbsikJBtt
— Adamo Gaming (@AdamoGG_) June 11, 2021
Video on EA getting hacked has double the views of my best 2042 vid :p
Even BF5 does better than most of the 2042 vids pic.twitter.com/XWu1bAGRkI
— DANNYonPC: Certified EA shill™ (@DANNYonPC) June 11, 2021
