Cyberpunk 2077 developer CD Projekt hit by ransomware attack
Hackers claim to have accessed unreleased Witcher 3 source code and threaten to leak it unless a payment is made
CD Projekt, the developer behind games such as Cyberpunk 2077 and The Witcher, has fallen victim to a cyber attack that saw hackers access its internal network and threaten to leak sensitive data.
The Polish games company confirmed on Twitter that a portion of its internal systems had been compromised, with hackers obtaining company data as well as encrypting a number of developer devices.
In a ransom note shared by the company, the hackers claimed to have accessed source code for games including Cyberpunk 2077, Gwent, and an unreleased version of The Witcher 3, and threatened to leak it unless a payment was made.
They also managed to obtain documents containing accounting, administration, legal, HR, and investor relations information.
A CD Projekt spokesperson told IT Pro that they are not able to provide further information on the impact of the attack on future game development or the sum requested in the ransom. However, the company made it clear that they were not intending to give in to the hackers' demands.
“We will not give in the demands nor negotiate with the actor, being aware that this may eventually lead to the release of the compromised data,” it said, noting that it is still investigating the attack and has “already approached the relevant authorities, including law enforcement and the President of the Personal Data Protection Office", which is the Polish equivalent of the ICO.
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In the statement, CD Projekt added that it has secured its “IT infrastructure and begun restoring the data” from backups and that no customer data was impacted by the attack.
ESET cybersecurity specialist Jake Moore said that it seems as if CD Projekt had “the correct protocol in place to withstand such demands and upheaval”.
“All good businesses have critical redundancies in place to mitigate the risk and this can only be truly simulated by testing the backups regularly and red teaming the company. We, unfortunately, live in a world where very little remains untouchable but the forward-thinking decision-makers understand this risk and spend money and time in reducing the impact,” he added.
The attack on CD Projekt comes after three other major gaming developers were targeted in the last few months. Ubisoft and Crytek were hit by the Egregor ransomware gang in October 2020, while Capcom fell victim to the Ragnar Locker group a month later.
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