Wednesday, January 25th 2023

League of Legends Source Code Stolen in Riot Games Cyberattack

by
btarunr
 Discuss (25 Comments)
Riot Games provided its first response to last week's cyberattack on its company network. The company alleges that the attackers have exfiltrated with the source-codes for "League of Legends," "Teamfight Tactics," and a proprietary anti-cheat software that's no longer in use. Riot Games assures all that no game user data was compromised with this attack (particularly passwords or payment-instrument details); and at worst the stolen source code could help the attackers create cheats. The company also received a ransom e-mail from the attackers demanding payment, failing which they threaten to release the source code to public; but Riot said that it does not intend to pay. Since user information isn't compromised, and the games themselves are protected by IP laws globally, there's little reason to pay up.
Source: Riot Games (Twitter)

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25 Comments on League of Legends Source Code Stolen in Riot Games Cyberattack

#1
ZoneDymo
Never understood this, the source code was stolen...so? what does that matter?
Insight in anti cheating measures or something?
Posted on Reply
#2
DeathtoGnomes
sounds like a newbie hacker trying to scoreearning their first chops. not that the game matters anymore.
Posted on Reply
#3
Easo
ZoneDymoNever understood this, the source code was stolen...so? what does that matter?
Insight in anti cheating measures or something?
Yes, they even mention that. It also means you can (well, people with knowledge) compile the game and run it yourself. Even more - you can now do whatever modifications to it, without mods, hacks or workarounds.
Plus it is loss of intelectual property.
Posted on Reply
#4
N3utro
ZoneDymoNever understood this, the source code was stolen...so? what does that matter?
Insight in anti cheating measures or something?
Yes, also possible open source servers engine that everyone could run. Which means potentially alternate solo queue servers not controlled by riot games, with all skins unlocked for all players.
Posted on Reply
#5
Assimilator
The company alleges that the attackers have exfiltrated with the source-codes for "League of Legends,"
Why would you steal something that is worthless?

(this is a dig at LoL players for those who don't understand humour)
Posted on Reply
#6
trsttte
EasoIt also means you can (well, people with knowledge) compile the game and run it yourself. Even more - you can now do whatever modifications to it, without mods, hacks or workarounds.
Add to that you can redistribute your own hacked version with whatever security vulnerabilities that will reflect poorly on Riot.
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#8
Bagerklestyne
As a current league player, I can only hope the theft results in some bugfixes.
Posted on Reply
#9
Ravenas
EasoYes, they even mention that. It also means you can (well, people with knowledge) compile the game and run it yourself. Even more - you can now do whatever modifications to it, without mods, hacks or workarounds.
Plus it is loss of intelectual property.
The game is IP protected everywhere it's available. Doesn't matter, which is why they aren't paying the ransom.
Posted on Reply
#10
zlobby
Well, what can I say except


Edit: sorry, TPU botched the .gif initially.
Posted on Reply
#11
lexluthermiester
ZoneDymoNever understood this, the source code was stolen...so? what does that matter?
Insight in anti cheating measures or something?
AssimilatorWhy would you steal something that is worthless?
RavenasThe game is IP protected everywhere it's available. Doesn't matter, which is why they aren't paying the ransom.
The reason stealing source code is important is grounded in the legal domain. If source code gets out in the wild and the copyright owners do little or nothing about it, there is the strong possibility that they might lose the rights to that source code. There is case-law to support this. Put simply, if a copyright owner doesn't actively defend their rights, they can lose them. It has happened. This is why microsoft literally hunted down the people who stole the Windows 2000 source code years ago. Even they stood a chance of losing control of that code if they didn't actively pursue the attackers.

Stealing of source code is a very important problem.
Posted on Reply
#12
Selaya
the most dangerous part of this?
tbh, abusing their anti-cheat engine as a vector for malware.
(and good fucking riddance, too.)
Posted on Reply
#13
Vayra86
Must be a riot in the board room over there now :pimp:
Posted on Reply
#14
big_glasses
RavenasThe game is IP protected everywhere it's available. Doesn't matter, which is why they aren't paying the ransom.
Never stopped people creating their private servers before
Posted on Reply
#15
Ravenas
lexluthermiesterThe reason stealing source code is important is grounded in the legal domain. If source code gets out in the wild and the copyright owners do little or nothing about it, there is the strong possibility that they might lose the rights to that source code. There is case-law to support this. Put simply, if a copyright owner doesn't actively defend their rights, they can lose them. It has happened. This is why microsoft literally hunted down the people who stole the Windows 2000 source code years ago. Even they stood a chance of losing control of that code if they didn't actively pursue the attackers.

Stealing of source code is a very important problem.
If the game is IP protected everywhere the game is played, Riot has the ability to defend their IP.

Hence why Riot is not paying ransom.
Posted on Reply
#16
zlobby
RavenasIf the game is IP protected everywhere the game is played, Riot has the ability to defend their IP.

Hence why Riot is not paying ransom.
If the code is leaked it will grant many people access to a ready product for free. Even the netcode alone is worth it as it contains a good starting point for another projects.
And good luck to Rito to prove it is indeed the code under their IP.
Posted on Reply
#17
Ravenas
zlobbyIf the code is leaked it will grant many people access to a ready product for free. Even the netcode alone is worth it as it contains a good starting point for another projects.
And good luck to Rito to prove it is indeed the code under their IP.
It’s so valuable and vitally important that they won’t pay the ransom.
Posted on Reply
#18
lexluthermiester
RavenasIf the game is IP protected everywhere the game is played, Riot has the ability to defend their IP.

Hence why Riot is not paying ransom.
RavenasIt’s so valuable and vitally important that they won’t pay the ransom.
That's really not how things work. Riot isn't paying the ransom for a good reason.
zlobbyIf the code is leaked it will grant many people access to a ready product for free. Even the netcode alone is worth it as it contains a good starting point for another projects.
And good luck to Rito to prove it is indeed the code under their IP.
This is an excellent example of what can go wrong with source code being stolen. There are many more.
Posted on Reply
#19
zlobby
RavenasIt’s so valuable and vitally important that they won’t pay the ransom.
It's valuable to 3rd parties. Rito already have it. ;)
Posted on Reply
#20
Ravenas
zlobbyIt's valuable to 3rd parties. Rito already have it. ;)
The ransom is to keep it out of 3rd party hands.
Posted on Reply
#21
zlobby
RavenasThe ransom is to keep it out of 3rd party hands.
Eh, exactly what I said, no? Truth is, Rito don't care. They can allow it, or at least play it like they can.
Posted on Reply
#22
claes
Right, by the time it’s sold to someone else it’ll have seen hundreds of commits, while still containing all of the bugs in the source. Might be valuable for a couple of weeks but then you’re just playing a buggy game with missing and incomplete features
Posted on Reply
#23
zlobby
claesRight, by the time it’s sold to someone else it’ll have seen hundreds of commits, while still containing all of the bugs in the source. Might be valuable for a couple of weeks but then you’re just playing a buggy game with missing and incomplete features
The idea is not to clone the entire game. The main things for me at least are finding vulnerabilities, and adopting parts of the code for one's own projects. Heck, I'd be glad if the source is released if only to use it for educational purposes.
Posted on Reply
#25
claes
zlobbyThe idea is not to clone the entire game. The main things for me at least are finding vulnerabilities, and adopting parts of the code for one's own projects. Heck, I'd be glad if the source is released if only to use it for educational purposes.
That’s exactly why it doesn’t matter? They already have a developer program for all of the reasons you list
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