Hackers Steal Source Code/Tools in EA Hack

It seems EA has become the next cyberattack victim. The hackers said they have “full capability of exploiting on all EA services” according to posts seen by Vice Motherboard. They said they have stolen 780GB of data in this EA hack. Included are supposedly the source code of FIFA 2021 and tools for the Frostbite game engine.

The hackers also claim they stole other proprietary stuff in their EA hack. The hackers claim to have some frameworks and SDKs (software development kits). SDKs make life easier for the developers. Those responsible are reportedly trying to sell the stolen data in underground hacking forums.

EA’s Response

As you can imagine, Electronic Arts is not happy about this. They are working with law enforcement, and confirmed the hack to Motherboard:

“We are investigating a recent incident of intrusion into our network where a limited amount of game source code and related tools were stolen. No player data was accessed, and we have no reason to believe there is any risk to player privacy. Following the incident, we’ve already made security improvements and do not expect an impact on our games or our business. We are actively working with law enforcement officials and other experts as part of this ongoing criminal investigation.”

EA seems fairly confident that the breach will not affect them too badly. However, we don’t know fully what data has been obtained in the EA hack. Those responsible for it have not released the data itself. Moreover, doing so would undermine their supposed attempts to sell it.

Electronic Arts is a titan publisher in the gaming industry. They are the name behind a number of popular franchises. Among them are names like Battlefield, FIFA, Madden, The Sims, and more. Hackers have targeted others in the industry before. CD Projekt Red found itself the target of a cyberattack after the unfortunate launch of Cyberpunk 2077. Secondly, Capcom dealt with a cybersecurity breach in November. The new EA hack is just the latest.