Video gaming company Ubisoft revealed that it is looking into reports that hackers attempted to steal data this week by breaching into its networks.
Ubisoft officials were "aware of an alleged data security incident and are currently investigating. At this point, we don't have anything further to share," a spokesperson for the French firm stated.
The claims were made in a series of social media posts by vx-underground, which hosts the internet's largest collection of malware source code, samples, and publications. The account has become well-known for its interactions with hackers and ransomware gangs, and it frequently shares threat actors' information.
Earlier this week on Thursday night, hackers told vx-underground that they had "roughly 48 hours" access to Ubisoft servers and accounts before the firm realised something was amiss and cancelled their access.
“They aimed to exfiltrate roughly 900gb of data but lost access,” the vx-underground account explained. “The Threat Actor would not share how they got initial access. Upon entry they audited the users' access rights and spent time thoroughly reviewing Microsoft Teams, Confluence, and SharePoint.”
Alleged screenshots of Microsoft Teams accounts and other points of access were published by the hackers via the vx-underground account.
The Egregor ransomware group first attacked the video game publisher in 2020. The publisher is primarily renowned for titles including Assassin's Creed, Far Cry, and Prince of Persia. The organisation disclosed a well-known game's source code.
Additionally, in 2021, the company acknowledged that player data from its Just Dance video game franchise was compromised due to a vulnerability in its IT structure.
If confirmed, the incident would be the latest in a string of high-profile hacks on one of the biggest game studios.
Arion Kurtaj was sentenced to an indefinite hospital order by a UK court on Thursday for his role in many attacks on large businesses, the most notorious of which involved Rockstar Games, the developer of Grand Theft Auto.
Kurtaj will be held in a secure hospital for the rest of his life or until doctors believe he is no longer a threat to society, according to Judge Patricia Lees of Southwark Crown Court, who stated that he was "determined to commit further serious offences if the opportunity arose.”