League of Legends' source code allegedly on the black market for US$700,000
The price includes Riot’s Anti-Cheat Software and player-sensitive data
A couple of weeks have passed since Riot Games, the developer of League of Legends (LoL) and Teamfight Tactics (TFT), got hacked through a social engineering attack.
Following the hack, LoL's source code, which includes Riot’s Anti-Cheat software, has now been put up for sale in the black market, priced at US$700,000, according to a report by Esports Haven.
The hacker, who goes by the name Arkat_001, apparently gained access to the LoL and TFT source code and an older version of Riot’s anti-cheat software, Packman.
On top of that, anti-cheat software for the South Korean region, codenamed Demacia, was also obtained.
Riot also said in a tweet that the illegally obtained data included experimental features.
“While we hope some of these game modes and other changes eventually make it out to players, most of this content is in prototype, and there’s no guarantee it will ever be released,” they said.
The data gathered by the hackers amounted to about 72.4 GB in total, with around 572,000 files.
Hacker originally wanted VALORANT access
The original goal of Arkat_001 was to gain access to VALORANT’s anti-cheat software Vanguard, mainly because the software functions like a rootkit. The hacker was kicked from the network before they could gain access to Vanguard’s files.
The hacker gained access to Riot’s database through an SMS sent to an employee, which was also used to gain access to the security credentials of one of the directors at Riot Games.
Arkat_001 also said that he allegedly has player-sensitive data like email addresses, and admin access to send Riot Points to players, which contradicts Riot’s statement that no sensitive player information had been leaked.
Riot previously received a ransom email from the hackers and was asked to pay US $10 million in exchange for not leaking the code. However, the developer had already confirmed that they refused to pay the ransom.
The hacker then turned to the underground market via one popular forum that traffics databases, first by attempting to auction off the LoL source code with bids starting at US$1 million, according to a report by PC Mag.
“This is very valuable for cheat developers, it's a huge game, I'm sure it would be at every advantage for a cheat developer,” Arkat_001 wrote.
Arkat has since then offered the source code for US$700,000.
Riot has admitted that this cyberattack could compromise the game and make it more vulnerable to cheats.
"Truthfully, any exposure of source code can increase the likelihood of new cheats emerging," Riot Games tweeted on 24 January.
"Since the attack, we've been working to assess its impact on anti-cheat and to be prepared to deploy fixes as quickly as possible if needed."
Since Arkat_001’s posts, Riot has not commented on the auction and black-market prices.
Anna is a freelance writer and photographer. She is a gamer who loves RPGs and platformers, and is a League of Legends geek. She's also a food enthusiast who loves a good cup of black coffee.
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