Update from June 11, 3 p.m.: CD Projekt Red has published a new statement. In it, the developers talk about having received new information. Apparently, really stolen data is currently in circulation. However, the team still cannot assess which information is circulating exactly. You can find all information about this under the first subheading.
CD Projekt RED fell victim to a major cyber attack. The developers of Cyberpunk 2077 are communicating this themselves via Twitter. Strangers used hacking to gain access to the team’s internal networks and stole vast amounts of data there. Including supposedly an unreleased version of The Witcher 3, but also personal data, accounts and so on.
In addition, a threatening digital letter relating to the hacking attack was published: In the letter, the alleged perpetrators asked CD Projekt to contact them in order to come to an agreement. It’s probably about money. Otherwise the authors of the letter threaten to share all data with the public so that “the public image of the company is even worse than it already is.”
By the way, our own position on the whole misery can be found here:
more on the subject
Cyberpunk 2077 Hack: Whoever applauds here has not understood anything
Update from June 11th: New statement from the developers
During E3, CD Projekt Red published on Twitter and the official website a new statement in which they share more details about the data theft in February with the public. Accordingly, the team has now been able to confirm that there is indeed sensitive data in circulation.
Link to Twitter content
Although CD Projekt now seems certain that the stolen data has been released, they are not yet able to say anything about the exact content. However, they are based on the firm assumption that they contain sensitive information from previous and current employees. There should also be data circulating related to their games.
“We cannot confirm the exact content of this data, but we believe that it contains details about current / former employees and contractors as well as data about our games. Furthermore, we cannot confirm whether this data has been edited or tampered with.”
A few months ago there were already indications that source codes from Cyberpunk, Gwent and The Witcher 3 were auctioned on the Internet. However, there was never an official confirmation of this and it still does not appear.
The studio continues to work to contain the damage and protect the privacy of its employees. Numerous new security measures have been introduced since the hacker. Including new types of firewalls, less privileged accounts and collaborations with several external cyber security and IT specialists.
February 11th update: Source code for sale for millions of dollars
According to the data security company vx-underground, the blackmailers are now offering the source code of Cyberpunk 2077, Gwent and the unpublished version of The Witcher 3 for sale on the Internet. The entry bid in the corresponding exploit forums was $ 1,000,000, for seven million you can buy the data immediately.
Link to Twitter content
vx-underground is convinced of the authenticity of this auction, there are two screenshots in the tweet to prove this. The source codes have also appeared in parts on various other platforms, but moderators usually delete the uploads immediately.
This auction follows the threat of the blackmailers to share the code with the world after a 48-hour ultimatum. CD Projekt had already shown a clear edge on day one not to enter into any negotiations with the alleged data thieves.
Allegedly, the codes have now (as of February 11, 6 p.m. even already sold: vx-underground recently posted a screenshot from the forum, which now says: “We received an offer from outside this forum and we were satisfied.” What that means for the future is currently unclear. We will keep you up to date.
Link to Twitter content
What was stolen?
According to the ransom note, two key areas were stolen:
-
The Source codes from Cyberpunk 2077, The Witcher 3, Gwent and an unreleased version of The Witcher 3.
- Sensitive dataincluding personnel information, transactions, investor information and administrative documents.
CD Projekt itself confirms in its own posting that »certain data« from the CD Projekt group has been stolen. Here is the official tweet including the ransom note:
Link to Twitter content
To roughly translate the ransom note:
“Hello CD Projekt, we got you pretty badly! We stole complete copies of the source code of Cyberpunk 2077, The Witcher 3, Gwent and an unpublished version of The Witcher 3 from your server. We also have all of your accounting, administration, Legal matters, HR, investor relations and more. We’ve also encrypted all of your servers, knowing that you can probably restore them via backup. If we don’t come to an agreement, your source code will be sold or leaked online and your documents will be migrated our contacts in gaming journalism. Your public image will go down the drain even more than ever and people will see how bad your company is going. Investors will lose confidence and your course will fall further. You have 48 hours. “
[Anmerkung der Redaktion: Es versteht sich von selbst, dass GameStar weder zu den im Schreiben genannten “Kontakten im Gaming-Journalismus” gehört, noch in irgendeiner Form mit den Erpressern kooperieren wird.]
How does CD Projekt react?
CD Projekt does not want to give in to the demands. In the posting it says:
“We will neither give in to these demands nor negotiate. Knowing that this attitude can lead to leakage of our data. We are taking the necessary steps to mitigate the effects of such an action, above all by contacting the parties who are affected by such The investigations into this incident are ongoing, but at least at this point in time we can give the all-clear – at least for the current state of affairs – that the stolen data does not contain any information about our player base or user data. “
Of course, CD Projekt has also approached the authorities who are investigating the matter. We will keep you up to date as soon as there are new developments.
Table of Contents
