Insomniac Games has allegedly been hacked by ransomware group Rhysida, which claims that it’s obtained stolen data from Insomniac servers. Insomniac Games is the first-party development studio under Sony that’s responsible for games like Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 and the upcoming Wolverine game.
Rhysida says that the stolen data contains personal information on Insomniac employees. Including passports and emails. The hack is also said to contain screenshots and other information on the upcoming Wolverine game. To prove that it has in its possession what it claims, Rhysida has posted an image that contains blurred-out passport scans and at least two screenshots from the upcoming Wolverine game. Notably, Wolverine can be seen in what looks like one of his more familiar costumes.
Sony says it’s investigating the attack but no other divisions of the company were impacted. So if that’s true then it seems this attack was solely targeted at Insomniac specifically.
The ransomware group that hacked Insomniac Games is auctioning the data for $2 million
You may know the drill with these kinds of cybersecurity attacks. A group hacks company servers and gains access to private data. It then holds that data hostage for a generally large sum of money. In Insomniac’s case, Rhysida is said to be auctioning the data off for $2 million worth of bitcoin according to Cyber Daily. This is also just the starting bid and it could potentially go higher. It’s also warned Insomniac that it plans to release the stolen data within seven days.
Given the auction, it seems likely Rhysida wants Insomniac to pay the $2 million to avoid the auction. But there would potentially be nothing stopping Rhysida from auctioning off the data anyway even if Insomniac did pay.
Sony was impacted by other cybersecurity attacks in 2023
Although this particular attack may only be impacting Insomniac Games, it’s not the only attack that has happened this year. Sony was hit by an attack back in May where data on some 6,800 current and former employees was stolen. It then confirmed that attack in October.