CD Projekt RED, the maker of Cyberpunk 2077 and The Witcher 3, has been hit by a massive ransomware hack. Ransomware hacks are when hackers penetrate vulnerable server systems and hold the data on them hostage for a ransom. CD Projekt RED says they will not pay the hackers the ransom and that they are restoring backups.
Yesterday we discovered that we have become a victim of a targeted cyber attack, due to which some of our internal systems have been compromised.
An unidentified actor gained anauthorized access to our internal network, collected certain data belonging to CD PROJEKT capital group, and left a ransome note the content of which we release to the public. Although some devices in our network have been encrypted, our backups remain intact. We have already secured our IT infrastructure and begun restoring the data.
We will not give in to the demands nor negotiate with the actor, being aware that this may eventually lead to the release of the compromised data. We are taking necessary steps to mitigate the consequences of such a release, in particular by approaching any parties that may be affected due to the breach.
We are still investigating the incident, however at this time we can confirm that–to the best of our knowledge–the compromised systems did not contain any personal data of our players or users of our services.
We have already approached the relevant authorities, including law enforcement and the President of the Personal Data Protection Office, as well as IT forensic specialists, and we will closely cooperate with them in order to fully investigate this incident. — CD Projekt RED on Twitter
Ransomware attacks are becoming increasingly common. CD Projekt RED said in their statement that as far as they know, no personal data from customers was stolen. However, the hackers are claiming that they stole the source code for CD Projekt RED’s Cyberpunk 2077 and The Witcher 3, along with a bunch of HR, legal, accounting, investor relations, and other documents.
Hello CD Projekt
You have been EPICALLY PWNED!!
We have dumped FULL copies of the source codes from your Perforce server for Cyberpunk 2077, Witcher 3, Gwent, and the unreleased version of Witcher 3!!!
We have also dumped all of your documents relating to accounting, administration, legal, HR, investor relations and more!
Also, we have encrypted all of your servers, but we understand that you can most likely recover from backups.
If we will not come to an agreement, then your source codes will be sold or leaked online and your documents will be sent to our contacts in gaming journalism. Your public image will go down the shitter even more and people will see how shitty your company functions. Investors will lose trust in your company and the stock will dive even lower!
You have 48 hours to contact us. — The ransom note CD Projekt RED posted to Twitter
Will the information contained in the stolen data be the nail in the coffin for CD Projekt? Unless there are any bombshell reports about financial improprieties, or HR complaints, or damning email documentation that CD Projekt decided to release Cyberpunk 2077 in its unfinished state, knowing it would not be fixed by the zero-day patch, the blackmail efforts are unlikely to damage the company much.
Of course, the investors suing the company, and the financial regulators in Poland investigating the company already are unlikely to like what they read in the stolen data, if and when it is leaked. CD Projekt already committed the sin of lying by omission when they released Cyberpunk 2077 in its unfinished state with numerous bugs and cut gameplay. That was just one of an number of missteps in a row by the company.
(Never Ending Realm reviewed Cyberpunk 2077 and rated it a 6/10)
The news just keeps getting worse and worse for CD Projekt. It remains to be seen how this delays the upcoming DLC for Cyberpunk and the progression of the numerous patches in the works for the game. Hopefully the game eventually achieves the greatness it promised before launch but no one is holding their breath at this point.
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