Hackers Steal Sensitive Data from Gaming Giant EA

Hackers reportedly breached the internal systems of Electronic Arts, one of the largest video game publishers in the world, and stole important data including game source code and internal tools.

BBC News reports that Electronic Arts alleges that its internal systems were breached by hackers recently, with the source code for games such as FIFA 21 and the company’s proprietary Frostbite game engine stolen in the hack. It is reported that 780GB of data was stolen during the breach.

EA has stated that no player data was stolen in the breach. the company is one of the largest games companies in the world and develops or publishes multiple high profile titles including Battlefield, Star Wars: Jedi Fallen Order, The Sims, Apex Legends, and Titanfall among many others.

In a statement, an EA spokesperson said: “We are investigating a recent incident of intrusion into our network where a limited amount of game source code and related tools were stolen. No player data was accessed, and we have no reason to believe there is any risk to player privacy.”

The company stated that it has already improved security and that it does not expect “an impact on our games or our business” due to the hack. Law enforcement has also been contacted to investigate the “network intrusion.”

In a report, VICE News stated that it had seen screenshots of the hacking forums used by the attackers who began advertising the stolen data for sale.

The source code stolen by hackers could hold significant value for unethical developers willing to copy it, or for those that develop cheats and hacks for EA’s games. However, it is unlikely that any mainstream EA competitor would ever use such stolen data.