EA Source code breached

Created 2 years ago

Hackers have breached the system of Electronic Arts (EA), one of the biggest video game publishers, and stolen source code used in the company games as confirmed by a spokesperson. For further details of the issue, read below:

ABOUT EA:
Electronic Arts Inc. is a global leader in digital interactive entertainment. EA develops and delivers games, content, and online services for Internet-connected consoles, mobile devices, and personal computers. EA has more than 450 million registered players around the world. Many popular games of this Franchise are FIFA, Madden NFL, Titanfall, and Battlefield.

WHAT IS A SOURCE CODE?
Source code is the language or string of words, numbers, letters, and symbols that a computer programmer uses. An example of source code is someone using HTML code to create a screen.
Source code is the fundamental component of a computer program that is created by a programmer. It can be read and easily understood by a human being.

IMPORTANCE OF SOURCE CODE:
Creating an executable from source code is not done to confuse or lockout people, the purpose is to create data from it that is as close to the machine that needs to execute it as possible, because this makes it as fast and as compact as possible, it also reduces necessary overhead.

WHAT HAPPENS IF A SOURCE CODE IS LEAKED:
If a competitor gets a hold of your source code - they can figure out what you did and steal your clever ideas. So if the source code is “leaked” - it's a major disaster. If the disaster is large enough - it can limit or even prevent the company from making more games.

ABOUT THE ISSUE:
Hacker claimed to have obtained 780 gigabytes of data from EA, including the Frostbite source code, which runs FIFA, Madden and the Battlefield, and other video games. The hackers threatened to offer “full compatibility of exploiting on all EA services.” They claimed to have stolen software development tools for FIFA 21 and server codes for player matchmaking in FIFA 22.
Brett Callow, the cybersecurity expert and a threat analyst at Emisoft, said, “Source Code could, theoretically, be copied by other developers or used to create hacks for games.”
"We are investigating a recent incident of intrusion into our network where a limited amount of game source code and related tools were stolen," the EA spokesperson said. "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 any 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.” The data breach was first reported by Vice.

The "network intrusion" was not a ransomware attack and had happened recently, EA added.
In its report, Vice said it had seen screenshots of the hacking forums used by the attackers, who are advertising the stolen data for sale.

source: CNN news, ea.com, quora.com, reddit.com