Russian hacker group Mogilevich carried out a ransomware attack on the servers of game developer Epic Games. In the process, nearly 200 gigabytes of data was captured. Epic Games said in a comment that there is no evidence that a cyber attack took place and is going to investigate the matter. Australian tech site Cyber Daily was the first medium to write about the alleged attack (1).
Mogilevich posted a message on its portal on the dark web about the cyber attack. In it, the hacker group says it "quietly carried out an attack on Epic Games' servers. In the process, the group allegedly stole 189 gigabytes of confidential data. Mogilevich claims it involved customer data and other confidential company information, including names, emails, passwords, payment information, source code and "much more data.
The captured data is currently being offered for sale on the dark web. Tech journalist and editor-in-chief of BleepingComputer Lawrence Abrams writes on X (2) that the group wants $15,000 for the data, but at the same time questions that. The hacker group is asking interested parties to come forward. To do so, they have until and Monday, March 4. What happens to the stolen data after that date is unclear.
"There is no evidence at this time that Mogilevich's ransomware claims are legitimate. Mogilevich has not contacted Epic or provided any evidence of the veracity of the allegations," Epic Games said in a response to X (3).
The game developer continued its statement by saying, "When we saw these allegations, in the form of a screenshot of a darkweb page in a tweet, we investigated within minutes and contacted Mogilevich for evidence. Mogilevich did not respond."
Epic Games says it is continuing its investigation into the ransomware attack and data breach.
Mogilevich is a relatively new player. It is said to be a Russian-speaking hacker group that has already made four victims this year. One of them is Infinity USA, a subsidiary of Japanese automaker Nissan. The Irish Foreign Office is also said to have been attacked by the Russian hacker group. The group advertises on online forums that you can hire them to carry out ransomware attacks.
This is not the first time hackers have harassed a gaming industry company. Late last year, Insomniac Games was the target of a cyber attack( 4). A week after the attack, hacker group Rhysida posted 1.67 terabytes of confidential company data on the dark web. In addition to company documents, details about the new Marvel game Wolverine were also made public (5).
Epic Games is an American game developer and has several large and popular titles in its portfolio, such as Fortnite, Gears of War, Jazz Jackrabbit and Unreal Tournament. The company also developed the well-known game engine Unreal Engine.
Epic Games fought a legal battle with Apple in recent years because the developer was not allowed to tout its own payment system in the App Store. Instead, it had to cede a 30 percent commission to Apple. If not, the app was banned from the App Store. Epic Games demanded that the court end Apple's monopolistic behavior and be allowed to advertise other payment methods. The judge ruled in favor of the game developer.
(1) https://www.cyberdaily.au/culture/10241-fortnite-game-dev-epic-games-allegedly-hacked
(2) https://twitter.com/LawrenceAbrams/status/1762576389373325757
(3) https://twitter.com/EpicNewsroom/status/1762864647445901578
(4) https://www.vpngids.nl/nieuws/sony-onderzoekt-cyberaanval-op-insomniac-games/
(5) https://www.vpngids.nl/nieuws/hackers-publiceren-gestolen-data-insomniac-games/
