News has broke that entertainment giant Sony is currently investigating a potential ransomware attack over at Insomniac Games – y’know, the team responsible for the popular Spider-Man game series.
Credit for the attack has already been claimed by a hacking group known as Rhysida, which has announced it’ll be selling any acquired data for $2 million within the next seven days if Insomniac and Sony don’t cough up the blackmail monies, according to a report by Cyber Daily.
Perhaps the most significant part of the blackmail attempt is the claim the group has stolen images and details on its forthcoming Wolverine title – which probably goes along with all the standard stuff you’d expect from such as hack, like confidential documents, personal information and emails.
Rhysida also says it has personal documents related to Spider-Man voice actor Yuri Lowenthal, and has released proof-of-hack documents showing screen grabs of the game and character art featured in the game.
The group has published a temporary website advertising the sale of these documents, teasing purchasers to “seize the opportunity to bid on exclusive, unique and impressive data.” It also promises to “sell to one hand, no reselling.”
I guess there IS honour among thieves, after all!
A statement issued by Sony to Video Games Chronicle read: “we are aware of reports that Insomniac Games has been the victim of a cyber security attack.”
The company is “currently investigating this situation” but made it absolutely clear the attack has not spread beyond Insomniac and other Sony divisions remain secure.
Insomniac is particularly well-known for its Spider-Man, Spider-Man 2 and Spider-Man: Miles Morales games, but has been around since the ’90s with popular releases such as Spyro the Dragon and Ratchet & Clank.
There’s been no release date set for Wolverine yet, and we don’t know how much of a spanner in the works this hack will be!
What do you think of the latest ransomware attack on Sony? I’m curious to see if they’ll give into the attack, but my feeling is that it’s unlikely. Let me know your thoughts in the comments.
