Ransomware group claims Epic Games hack

UPDATE 1.20pm UK: Epic Games has moved quickly to calm fears of a potential ransomware attack, after a group claimed to have breached the company's servers and stolen data.

“We are investigating but there is currently zero evidence that these claims are legitimate,” an Epic Games spokesperson told Eurogamer this morning.

“[Ransomware group] Mogilievich has not contacted Epic or provided any proof of the veracity of these allegations. When we saw these allegations, which were a screenshot of a darkweb webpage in a Tweet from a third party, we began investigating within minutes and reached out to Mogilevich for proof. Mogilevich has not responded. The closest thing we have seen to a response is this Tweetwhere they allegedly ask for $15k and 'proof of funds' to hand over the purported data.

ORIGINAL STORY 11am UK: Fortnite maker Epic Games has reportedly suffered a ransomware attack, with almost 200GB of data stolen from the company.

That's according to group behind the alleged attack, Mogilevich, as reported by Cyber ​​Daily. Epic Games is yet to respond.

The hacked data allegedly includes “email, passwords, full name, payment information, source code and many other data” – although it's unclear if this refers to the details of Epic Games employees, customers, or both.

The ransomware group is, unsurprisingly, now trying to extort money for the data to be returned – or to bought by another party – with a deadline of 4th March.

The hackers are yet to post proof of the hack, but reportedly successfully targeted a subsidiary of car manufacturer Nissan last month.

A recent spate of ransomware attacks have seen a number of high-profile video game makers targeted. Most recently that included PlayStation's Spider-Man studio Insomniac, with employee details and development plans posted online when the company refused to pay.

In October last year, European police claimed to have “taken down” the gang of ransomware attackers responsible for 2020's high-profile Capcom hack, which also saw confidential employee information and details on upcoming games posted online.