2022 was the year of gaming industry hacks and leaks, with many high-profile security breaches including the one involving Rockstar’s Grand Theft Auto 6. Now, new information suggests that one more security breach happened towards the end of 2022, but was left unreported at the time.
Twitter user vx-underground claims that some hacked Activision Blizzard before last year ended. The report suggests that the studio’s Slack channel was compromised and data relating to Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2’s future content was what was mostly stolen but the publisher opted to keep quiet about the security breach.
"Activision was breached December 4th, 2022," user vx-underground tweeted. "The Threat Actors successfully phished a privileged user on the network. They exfiltrated sensitive work place documents as well as scheduled to be released content dating to November 17th, 2023. Activision did not tell anyone."
.@Activision was breached December 4th, 2022. The Threat Actors successfully phished a privileged user on the network. They exfiltrated sensitive work place documents as well as scheduled to be released content dating to November 17th, 2023.
Activision did not tell anyone. pic.twitter.com/urD64iIlC5
— vx-underground (@vxunderground) February 20, 2023
The leak apparently details six seasons of planned content for Modern Warfare 2 and Warzone 2. The roadmap for the best-selling Call of Duty title lasts until November 2023 according to the leaks. Seasons 3 to 6 will introduce two operators, one crossover character, and three weapons each.
The hacker reportedly scammed Activision employees and was a nuisance once they had access to the Slack channel. The hacker used a phishing scam to gain initial access.
Tom Henderson has since confirmed the legitimacy of the data breach. According to the trusted insider, the leaked data reveals plans for an upcoming Modern Warfare 2 DLC and a new installment coming next year, codenamed "Jupiter" and "Cerberus", respectively. The former is also expected to go into alpha testing in May or June.
Activision confirmed earlier this month that a new Call of Duty game is coming out this year, so it's interesting that the report says otherwise.
The report also claims that the hack is isolated to one employee, who belongs to the HR department. Thus, the hackers might already have access to the personal data of Activision Blizzard employees. Surprisingly enough, player data was reportedly not compromised during the breach.
Henderson revealed that the files were passed on to vx-underground by a single individual after the hacker was unable to sell the contents of the breach.
Call of Duty 2023 will reportedly be launching on November 10 on the PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
