Hacktivist group Anonymous Sudan has claimed responsibility for launching a Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack against Riot Games, the American video game developer and publisher. The group announced the attack through a post on the messaging app Telegram, stating that it lasted between 30 minutes to one hour. However, initial investigations by cybersecurity experts have found that the Riot Games website remained unaffected by the attack.
Threat intelligence services have also not confirmed the authenticity of Anonymous Sudan’s claim. Falcon Feeds, a threat intelligence provider, stated that the alleged target of the attack was the login portal of Riot Games. Interestingly, the attack occurred just two days after Riot Games declared that it would be on summer break. If the attack is confirmed, it would be the second large-scale cyber attack targeting Riot Games to receive public attention.
The Cyber Express, a cybersecurity news outlet, has reached out to Riot Games for confirmation of the incident. However, the company has not yet responded. This is not the first time Riot Games has faced cyber threats. In January of this year, the company acknowledged being targeted by a cyber attack, which it described as a “social engineering attack” on its Twitter account. Although Riot Games assured its users that no player data or personal information was compromised, the attack did result in the theft of source codes for some of its popular video games.
Anonymous Sudan has gained notoriety as a cyber threat actor, with recent attacks on various media companies, including Agence France-Presse (AFP), Hebrew Radio 103 FM, and Channel 7. The motives behind the group’s attack on Riot Games remain unknown, reflecting the enigmatic nature of hacktivist groups. However, it highlights a pattern of targeted cyberattacks on high-profile companies, causing disruption and chaos.
Interestingly, Anonymous Sudan has had a previous encounter with another tech giant, Microsoft. The hacktivist group claimed to have successfully breached Microsoft’s servers and stolen credentials for more than 30 million customer accounts. Microsoft, on the other hand, vehemently denied these claims but acknowledged that the group was responsible for service disruptions and outages in early June. These disruptions affected several Microsoft services, including Azure, Outlook, and OneDrive.
Adding to the controversy, Anonymous Sudan offered to sell a database containing more than 30 million Microsoft accounts, emails, and passwords for $50,000. While Microsoft denied the breach of customer accounts, the audacity of such an offer highlights the brazen nature of cyber threats in today’s world.
In conclusion, Anonymous Sudan’s claim of a DDoS attack against Riot Games has yet to be confirmed. The motives behind the attack remain unknown, but it fits a pattern of targeted cyberattacks by the group. Riot Games has faced previous cyber threats, but it is reassuring that no player data or personal information was compromised. Cybersecurity experts and threat intelligence services continue to monitor the situation to provide further insights into the attack and the group behind it.