Tuesday, February 9th 2021
CD Projekt RED Hacked, Attacker Claims to Have "Cyberpunk 2077" and "The Witcher 3" Source Code
CD Projekt RED just announced that it has been hit by a cyber-attack on its internal network, with the attacker having gained access to certain sensitive information belonging to the CD Projekt group. In a press note posted to Twitter, the studio included the screenshot to a plain-text ransom note left on its servers by the attacker, who claims to possess source-code of the company's most popular titles, including "Cyberpunk 2077," "The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt," "Gwent," and an unreleased version of "The Witcher 3" (possibly a remaster). They also claim to have confidential documents related to CDPR's financial accounting, administration, legal, HR, IR, and more. The note ends with information on how to reach out to the attacker to discuss ransom within 48 hours. CDPR announced that it will not give into the demands of the attacker, and has reached out to law enforcement.
Source:
CD Projekt RED (Twitter)
75 Comments on CD Projekt RED Hacked, Attacker Claims to Have "Cyberpunk 2077" and "The Witcher 3" Source Code
But even if I was commenting on the hacker's motivations ... so what? Does them saying so make it any less absurd? Of course not.
They'll probably ignore the whole thing, and the frustrated employee / ex-employee will have only his tears of salt.
I don't say CDPR is an angel, but we have to recognized that it's one of the most, if not the most, human company in game industry with that size (800 or so). Seriously, free update, big games for cheap, nearly no-DLC kit games, etc.
This guy is seriously deranged.
Next he's going to hack NPO ? The WHO because of Covid ?
Fucked up world with fucked up people.
Also, it's interesting you think the only publisher that still gives us great games, DRM-free has an image beyond repair. Besides them not releasing in the best shape (but always offering an enhanced edition free of charge later on) and some mismanagement accusations, I hold them in pretty high regard.
Every company has some unprofessional internal correspondance, that's why it's internal. For CDPR's internal comms to be exposed to the web will be of interest and surprise to no-one who works in a company that has more than a tiny handful of employees.
if it is true however I can see the reasoning behind the lax attitude over the release threat....the docs are probably unfinished if not outright non existent except in title
You either have checks and balances in place or you do not. And besides, who would be interested in what's stolen? If this is their way of getting into Scene releases its not how to do it :D
This is where a company can do a very simple thing: full transparency on the stolen data. Here it is. Know it so that its value vanishes overnight. Trololol... you committed a criminal offense, we're going on, kthxbai :)
There really is something to the idea that internet right-wing movements have twisted and weaponized basic tenets of media literacy (such as "be critical of what you're told" and "those with an economic and political interest in swaying you are likely to try to do so") into such a parody of itself that a scary amount of people are suddenly more likely to believe weird conspiracy theory logic than far simpler explanations. Occam's razor is still an excellent tool.
I'm sure plenty are aware of the myriad of private mmo game servers out there... while a few are legitimately extending the life of an EOL product, the vast majority are profiting off work not their own by injecting micro transactions and cosmetic packages and letting people play at no charge. Who knows what potential malicious code could have been compiled into the released client binaries also...
If they planned on selling the engine, I’m pretty sure they can still sell support with a good profit margin.