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Riot Games Says Source Code Stolen in Ransomware Attack

Video games developer Riot Games says source code was stolen from its development environment in a ransomware attack

Video games developer Riot Games on Tuesday confirmed that source code was stolen from its development systems during a ransomware attack last week.

The incident was initially disclosed on January 20, when the company announced that systems in its development environment had been compromised and that the attack impacted its ability to release content.

“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,” the company announced last week.

On January 24, Riot Games revealed that ransomware was used in the attack and that source code for several games was stolen.

“Over the weekend, our analysis confirmed source code for League, TFT, and a legacy anticheat platform were exfiltrated by the attackers,” the games developer said.

The company reiterated that, while the development environment was disrupted, no player data or personal information was compromised in the attack.

The stolen source code, which also includes some experimental features, will likely lead to new cheats emerging, the company said.

“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,” Riot Games added.

The game developer also revealed that it received a ransom demand, but noted that it has no intention to pay the attackers. The company has promised to publish a detailed report of the incident.

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According to Motherboard, the attackers wrote in the ransom note that they were able to steal the anti-cheat source code and game code for League of Legends and for the usermode anti-cheat Packman. The attackers are demanding $10 million in return for not sharing the code publicly.

Related: Ransomware Revenue Plunged in 2022 as More Victims Refuse to Pay Up: Report

Related: Ransomware Attack on DNV Ship Management Software Impacts 1,000 Vessels

Related: The Guardian Confirms Personal Information Compromised in Ransomware Attack

Written By

Ionut Arghire is an international correspondent for SecurityWeek.

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