Insomniac Games Cyberattack condemned by industry
Games developer Insomniac Games has been subject to an awful cyber attack. the group in question are known as The Rhysida ransomware group and they threatened Insomniac games with leaks of contracts, game footage, and personal information if they did not receive 2 million worth of Bitcoin. Naturally, Insomnia Games did not pay this ransom.
After demanding $2 million last week, hackers this morning released more than a terabyte of leaked data from the Sony-owned video game company Insomniac Games, including emails, prototype footage, and employee personal details https://t.co/L7g8ZBbHlU (via @cecianasta)
— Jason Schreier (@jasonschreier) December 19, 2023
As a result, the internet has been flooded with leaks from all over your favourite Insomniac Games. We won’t be covering these leaks here at Phandroid. We’re going to talk about the impact of what these do not just to the games industry at large to the technology sector as a whole.
This Insomniac leak is an invasion of privacy done on a massive scale. That’s why today, we will not be reporting on the details of the leak.
Instead, we’ll discuss how this affects the people working on your favorite games. pic.twitter.com/np0U6E3BIL
— Greg Miller (@GameOverGreggy) December 19, 2023
Internet has come together largely to condemn the actions of the Cyber attackers. Major outlets like KindaFunny Games and GameSpot have all decided to not report on these leaks. Instead focusing on what is the most important thing about these leaks which is the lives of those affected by something like this. We will be doing the same thing, and focusing on the most important thing about these leaks which is how to support the people affected.
Really feel for the Insomniac crew, not just because it’s putting all of their work out there but also their lives. It’s awful. This isn’t a leak it’s a malicious breach that endangers people. Won’t be covering the contents of it on GameSpot.
— Tamoor Hussain (@tamoorh) December 19, 2023
Why Cyberattacks are bad
Cyber attacks are very common on the internet. We’ve reported on many of them throughout this year. This doesn’t just happen to your grandparents’ PC from 2007 when they clicked a dodgy link but it happens to major corporations too. They’re often less reported, as breaches like these have tremendous impacts not just on the businesses affected but the customer using whatever platform has been compromised.
Good cyber security hygiene is so important. but sometimes in situations like this, there is no other solution. Other than to refuse the demands made by cyber hackers. Unfortunately, these people don’t care about the lives of those affected by doing something like this.
What we can do
People’s personal information has been leaked, things that you would dread to be leaked yourself. Your home addresses, phone numbers, and all other personal information that you would rightly like to keep private. All were leaked to the internet about these developers and other employees.
I know it’s part of people’s jobs to cover this. But the contents of the STOLEN data breach weren’t meant for us yet. We don’t need to make content about it. People’s PRIVATE data was in that too. The more it spreads, the more dangerous it is for employees and their families. https://t.co/x0NevxwXPs
— Steve Saylor (@stevesaylor) December 19, 2023
There is no other appropriate response to this other than pure condemnation of what has happened to the people over at Insomnia Games. I would encourage you, as would all the staff here at Phandroid, to block and report instances of these leaks where you see them. Not only because it’s the right thing to do, but we mustn’t give in as a community of tech lovers to the people who wish to do us harm.
Protecting each other is important at times like this. There are a lot of scary people in the world, and everyone is going through something that we don’t know about.