TECH NEWS | Gaming giant Electronic Arts hacked, source code stolen
EA said that source code for FIFA 21, and its Frostbite game engine, used as a base for many of its games, were some of the proprietary materials that were stolen.
Source: EA
Gaming giant Electronic Arts (EA) revealed on Friday that they had been hacked and the criminals have managed to download 780GB worth of their source codes for their popular games.
EA said that source code for FIFA 21, and its Frostbite game engine, used as a base for many of its games, were some of the proprietary materials that were stolen. Investigations are still ongoing. Allegedly, the attackers are already selling these information on the dark net.
“The source code is the crown jewel of any software company,” said Clement Lee, security architect, APAC, Check Point Software Technologies, as he shared his thoughts on the incident. “We are sure that an experienced gaming company like Electronic Arts (EA) have stringent practices in place for their source code management, and it is unfortunate that there was an inlet for such a breach to occur.”
‘No risk to players’
“We are investigating a recent incident of intrusion into our network where a limited amount of game source code and related tools were stolen,” an EA spokesperson said in a statement. “No player data was accessed, and we have no reason to believe there is any risk to player privacy.”
“Source code leak is not always the be all and end all in a leak this massive,” said Lee. “However, EA have their work cut out for them to ensure that their intellectual property is maintained and that any possible exploits be arrested without incident. Although EA has never meant for their source code to be open sourced, the source code is already been made available in the dark net. It is not surprising, as hackers are usually quick to monetize such a rare opportunity.”
