After refusing an open call for ransom — and after failing to get a media outlet to do it for them — the hackers responsible for stealing hundreds of gigabytes of source code from EA leaked everything online.
The data, a dump totalling about 780GB of source code including files on FIFA 21, FIFA 22 and EA’s internal Frostbite engine which powers games from Battlefield to Mass Effect Andromeda, is reportedly being shared around torrent sites after being released on the dark web in late July.
The Record, which downloaded a copy of the data, posted some screenshots of the files available in the folder.
In a statement after the initial leak, EA said the hackers did not get access to any player data. “We are actively working with law enforcement officials and other experts as part of this ongoing criminal investigation,” EA said, adding that “we’ve already made security improvements and do not expect an impact on our games or our business”.
The bigger problem with this isn’t necessarily for EA or the FIFA series, but what might happen now that people can get a better look at the inner workings of Frostbite. One particular concern could be with Battlefield 2042: I’m sure cheat manufacturers would love to peek under Frostbite’s hood, especially given how accessible cheats are on PC and console these days.
According to VICE’s Motherboard, the hackers gained access to EA’s data by purchasing a stolen Slack cookie from the dark web. The hackers then used social engineering to trick an EA employee to provide login details, using the ruse that “we lost our phone at a party last night”. That allowed them to gain access to EA’s internal corporate network, revealing an internal service used by EA developers for compiling game builds.
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