A data breach that took place in October 2022 and is connected to a GTA modder has exposed more than 100,000 email IDs and other confidential data.
A data breach carried out by a GTA modder in October 2022 has resulted in more than 100,000 email addresses getting exposed. This particular information has been brought to the fore by a prominent website that tracks incidents related to cyber-security. Interestingly, the gaming franchise had to deal with a data breach episode around the same time.
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In September 2022, multiple video clips pertaining to GTA 6 got leaked on YouTube. This incident made it clear that confidential data owned by Rockstar Games had been compromised. Though this leaked content was taken off the internet for some time, the leak resulted in several fans having a glimpse of an unfinished version of the much-awaited game.
Strauss Zelnick, who operates as the CEO of Take-Two Interactive, addressed the leak and stated that it took an emotional toll on the team. He also accepted the fact that there was a chance of it affecting the business of the company in the near future.
As news of this new security breach surfaces online, one realizes Rockstar needs to do a lot more to strengthen its internal security system. According to several entries registered on Have I Been Pwned, 101,000 email addresses that had been listed in the GTA mod menu provider RealDudesInc suffered from a major breach in October 2022.
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As per the website, a large number of these email addresses happened to be temporary guest emails. The leaked information also features bcrypt password hashes and usernames. What this essentially means is that a majority of these account details had already been compromised via other data breaches that took place in the past.
New breach: GTA mod menu provider RealDudesInc had 101k email addresses (many temp ones for guests) breached in October. Data also included usernames and bcrypt password hashes 16% were already in @haveibeenpwned. Read more: https://t.co/f0kKQw7GzW
— Have I Been Pwned (@haveibeenpwned) February 19, 2023
While Rockstar Games is bound to receive some criticism for not doing enough to secure its titles, it is important to remember here that many other games and gaming publishers have been a victim of cybersecurity crimes. Towards the beginning of 2022, Ubisoft suffered from a massive breach that affected many of its severely, though on a temporary basis.