This week hasn’t been kind to Insomniac Games following the recent shutout at The Game Awards for Marvel’s Spider-Man 2. The studio’s week just turned from bad to worst with new reports that it has been hit by a ransomware attack.
As reported by Cyber Daily, the ransomware group Rhysida leaked documents online as evidence to back its claim that it successfully hacked the Spider-Man developer. The leaked files include annotated screenshots for the upcoming Wolverine game and artwork that could spoil the inclusion of Marvel characters in the PS5 title.
The group also released employee information including passport scans, personal documents for the voice actor, Yuri Lowenthal, internal emails, and confidential documents. The group is threatening to publish the stolen data within the next seven days but is also planning to hold an auction for the hacked documents. The starting bid is reportedly 50 Bitcoins, which is equivalent roughly to $2 million.
“With just 7 days on the clock, seize the opportunity to bid on exclusive, unique, and impressive data,” the group said. Open your wallets and be ready to buy exclusive data. We sell only to one hand, no reselling, you will be the only owner!”
Sony stated that it was aware of the claim and is looking into the matter. The company said that no other Sony division has been affected by the hacking incident.
We are aware of reports that Insomniac Games has been the victim of a cyber security attack,” Sony said. “We are currently investigating this situation. We have no reason to believe that any other SIE or Sony divisions have been impacted.”
This isn’t the first time this year that Sony has been the target of a similar hacking incident. In September, the company investigated reports that a ransomware group broke into Sony’s systems. The hackers threatened to sell off allegedly stolen data from the security breach. RansomedVC, another ransomware group, claimed responsibility for the security breach.
A zero-day vulnerability in Progress Software’s MOVEit managed file transfer (MFT) software also affected Sony in June. The hacking group CI0p gained access to the files of hundreds of companies using the software. The company revealed 6,800 of its present and previous employees were affected by the breach. It is unclear what information was stolen, but reports indicate that it was personal in nature.
Hacking has become very commonplace in the gaming industry, especially in studios with highly anticipated titles. The security breach at Rockstar involving the theft of GTA 6 files is probably the most well-known incident in recent times. The hacker was reportedly pulled off by a teen from the UK with a history of targeting software companies.
