Riot Games' source code was reportedly taken in a cyberattack on Jan. 17, and now the hackers are demanding $10 million from the video game developer.
Directors of Riot were the intended recipients of the ransom e-mail. As reported by Dot Esports, the criminals threatened to reveal the full scope of the system hack and the stolen materials unless a ransom was paid.
Today, we received a ransom email. Needless to say, we won’t pay.
— Riot Games (@riotgames) January 24, 2023
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.
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The Ransom E-mail
According to the purported e-mail acquired by the media, the hackers warned to leak the important information stolen from the firm unless they were paid $10 million. However, in a message published on the company's official Twitter account on Tuesday, Jan. 24, Riot stated that it had no intention of honoring the attackers' demands.
Riot acknowledged in the same message that it had received the mentioned ransom e-mail, although it did not reveal further details from the hacker's letter.
The message apparently proved that the hackers had obtained the essential data from the firm's servers. It also included a link to a Telegram group conversation via which the hackers recommended Riot conduct further talks.
"We do not wish to harm your reputation or cause public disturbance. Our sole motivation is financial gain," the letter said, setting Riot a deadline that has now passed.
The hackers continued by saying that Riot took great pride in its security procedures but that they could access it with an "amateur-level" attack.
Stolen Material
The stolen material was listed by the hackers. It contains a "precious" anti-cheat source code, the entirety of the League of Legends game code (plus its tools), and the user mode anti-cheat known as "Packman."
In exchange for money, the attackers have promised to permanently delete all source code from their servers and refrain from releasing the files to the public in the future.
Moreover, if Riot paid the ransom, the attackers stated they would reveal how they carried out the hack and provide tips on how to avoid future intrusions.
Source Code Breach
In a report by Bloomberg, Valorant and League of Legends developer Riot Games said last week that a social engineering assault had penetrated the company's development environment.
The firm announced the theft of League of Legends and Teamfight Tactics source code, as well as an older anti-cheat framework, through their Twitter account.
The built environment for Riot Games, which Tencent owns, was interrupted and may pose concerns in the future. Nonetheless, the company maintained its reassurance that no player data or player personal info was stolen.
