PlayStation game dev hit by major ransomware attack – stolen data being auctioned off

In the latest high-profile gaming hack, it seems Spiderman 2, and current Wolverine developer Insomniac Games has been breached, by a group called Rysida, who has published screenshots from Wolverine, alongside the identity pages of passports of staff, past and current, suggesting that the data stolen is from multiple departments.

Rysida has said that Insomniac has seven days to agree to a ransom or they will release the data, but, somewhat confusingly also seem to be auctioning the heist off to the highest bidder online.

A message from the group says, “With just 7 days on the clock, seize the opportunity to bid on exclusive, unique, and impressive data,” Rhysida said in its leak message online.

“Open your wallets and be ready to buy exclusive data. We sell only to one hand, no reselling, you will be the only owner!”

Do I hear 50 Bitcoin in the room?

The starting bid is a rather ambitious 50 Bitcoin, which works out around $2 million dollars.

Insomniac Games is a Sony studio and the PlayStation manufacturers told Eurogamer, “We are aware of reports that Insomniac Games has been the victim of a cyber security attack. We are currently investigating this situation. We have no reason to believe that any other SIE or Sony divisions have been impacted.”

Rysida, named after a species of caterpillar is suspected to be a Russian group and was responsible for the recent ransomware attack on the British Library last month. 

According to that same Guardian article US government agencies released an advisory note on Rhysida, stating that the “emerging ransomware variant” had been deployed against the education, manufacturing, IT, and government sectors since May. 

The Government also said it had also seen the Rhysida gang running a “ransomware as a service” (Raas) operation – this is a system where the group would hire out its tools and share profits with other criminal enterprises involved.

It is unclear at this point what will happen next, but we will keep this story updated with any developments.

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