Hackers Reportedly Breach Spider-Man 2 Dev Insomniac, Release Wolverine and Staff Data [IGN]

December 13, 2023 Wesley Yin-Poole gaming

UPDATE: Sony has acknowledged today’s reports of a security breach at Insomniac and said it is investigating. It added that it does not believe any other Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) or Sony divisions were affected.

The SIE statement in full, issued to IGN:

“We are aware of reports that Insomniac Games has been the victim of a cyber security attack. We are currently investigating this situation. We have no reason to believe that any other SIE or Sony divisions have been impacted.”

ORIGINAL STORY: A ransomware group has allegedly hacked Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 developer Insomniac and put stolen data up for sale.

The Rhysida ransomware group claimed to have breached Insomniac, obtaining information on the upcoming Wolverine game as well as private staff information. IGN has asked Sony for comment.

According to cyberdaily, Rhysida posted limited data to back up its claim. This includes an annotated screenshot reportedly from Wolverine, character art, and staff passport scans. TheCyberExpress reported that Rhysida is now selling the data for 50 BTC, or around $2 million, with a seven-day deadline. The implication is that the hackers will release the stolen data if it does not receive payment before the end of its self-imposed deadline.

Marvel’s Wolverine – Direct-Feed Screens [September 2021]

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Cyber attacks are of increasing concern to tech companies, with the video game industry suffering a number of breaches in recent years. In 2020, Capcom suffered a devastating data breach that revealed a number of unannounced games, including Dragon’s Dogma 2 and Street Fighter 6. International law enforcement finally apprehended the ransomware group responsible in October.

Last year, dozens of video files related to Grand Theft Auto 6 were stolen and leaked online. One of the accused hackers, Arion Kurtaj, of the Lapsus$ group, was convicted of 12 different offences following a seven-week trail in August.

Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.