Are Gamers Being Played?
Fortnite! Call of Duty! Grand Theft Auto!
Sound familiar?
Perhaps you have never heard these names before. Perhaps the adolescent population in your immediate family has coerced you into purchasing a video game for them; or, all too often ignore us at family/holiday dinners while playing the same video games.
The video games listed above are “fairly” recent, but video games have been around for over 40 years. They have become increasingly sophisticated with time. There was a time when the gaming community appeared to have been targeted to youth and teens. However, that has since shifted as the development, expansion and creativity of games have attracted the attention of adults. According to Mordor Intelligence, in 2019, the gaming industry earnings were $151 billion dollars and is projected to reach a rate of 9.17% from 2020-2025.
If you have lived long enough you know that every season has its peaks and valleys. Whether it is the medical, educational, or entertainment field; there is rain and there are flowers -- no one person or thing is exempt. And that too is true of cyber, especially where hacking is concerned. Hackers don't skip to the main course of industries, instead they meticulously and deliberately move from appetizer to main to dessert. The gaming industry currently is the more delectable item on the ransomware to-go menu right now.
According to the article entitled, Hackers Target Video Game Publishers for Ransom Source Code, published by the Wall Street Journal, writer James Rundle states “Electronic Arts Inc (EA) said it t was breached by hackers recently, confirming an earlier report by technology news outlet Motherboard. That followed a disclosure by Polish game developer CD Projekt SA in February of a ransomware attack and a similar invasion of systems at Capcom Co. Ltd. last November. Each attack involved data theft, with schedules for coming Capcom releases posted on darknet forums for games including Resident Evil Village and Street Fighter. Hackers claim to have pilfered the source code for popular games such as EA’s FIFA series and CD Projekt’s Cyberpunk 2077, and the libraries of code and digital assets known as game engines used to create them.”
The hackers did not request a ransom during this breach. They instead decided to auction the codes via the darknet; essentially selling to the highest bidder. The article continues and states, “In response to the ransomware attack, CD Projekt said in a statement on June 10 that it redesigned its core information-technology infrastructure, upgraded firewalls, expanded its internal security team and engaged third-party specialists to assist with cybersecurity. A spokeswoman for the company didn’t respond to a request for comment. A spokeswoman for EA said the company lost a limited amount of game source code and related tools during its attack, and it doesn’t believe player data was at risk.”
Folks, the operative word there is BELIEVE. They do not BELIEVE player data was at risk. I don’t know about you, but would you rather believe or know your doctor went to and graduated medical school? Would you rather believe or know that your 10-year warranty is valid for 10 years? The bottom line is player data is at risk and if companies are betting on belief, then perhaps, we need to figure out who’s really being played. Whether it's personal banking, your small business, or your medical files. You deserve to feel and know that you are protected. There is an old saying “don’t hate the player, hate the game.” In this case, it’s the reverse.
At Nine Mile we believe prevention is the best protection. We have the tools and know-how to support you.
Contact us today and get started.
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