Hackers who stole FIFA 21 source code from Electronic Arts several weeks ago have released all their data online after failing to blackmail EA and sell the code to 3rd party buyers, according to a report by the Record.
Starting June 10th, these hackers wanted $28 Million for the stolen FIFA 21 source code, amounting to 780GB worth of data. They managed to grab the data by breaching EA's internal slack channel through the use of stolen cookies bought online. These cookies hold login credentials of EA users in the Slack channel, allowing anyone with the cookies to log in to Slack.
Unfortunately for the hackers, their hopes of a large payday were short-lived. The hackers tried to blackmail EA for $28 million to prevent the source code from leaking online, but EA flat out refused to pay because the data held no sensitive data like user credentials.
As a last resort, the hackers tried selling the source code to the black market but met the same problem. Buyers had little interest in purchasing source code as it holds no sensitive information, making the purchase almost worthless for illegal activity.
"Following the incident, we've already made security improvements and do not expect an impact on our games or our business,” EA told the Record. “We are actively working with law enforcement officials and other experts as part of this ongoing criminal investigation.”
So now the hackers have leaked all the data online for anyone to see and use. People can potentially use the code to play FIFA 21 on their own servers without EA's consent, though if you want to play the game legally, you're better off buying a copy.
EA has officially stated that no user data was accessed, and the company has put in extra security measures to ensure this breach does not happen again.
