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Grand Theft Auto Theft - A Warning, Surely?

A warning that if you run a very valuable software-development company, or otherwise hold very valuable or sensitive information on computers; you do NOT do so on computers linked to the Internet?

Or at least, you connect your company computers by an internal server protected by a very powerful fire-wall between it and the public service.

I do not have any connection with the creators of 'Grand Theft Auto' - I do not play computer games at all anyway - but I do hope the authorities can catch the scum who stole their intellectual-property. The same gang has also claimed to be responsible for the recent attack on the Uber taxi company.

Really, the uniformity required at system level for the Internet, and the world-wide monopoly of Microsoft, has made life too easy for the "professional" IT-attack gangs (some of them State-run); but that ought also facilitate tracing them.

'

And although there is a serious hazard in doing so, obvious by simple thought, for the social-media site owners to identify and fully block the sources of wrongful intent, not just remove the posts.
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joe438 · 61-69, M
If they actually just put their development machines on the internet with poorly installed firewalls, then that was really naive. I think a lot of these breaches aren’t so much a bad guy coming in, but a bad guy tricking a naive employee into leaving the door open.

I’m also not a game player so I havent been following the story. Do they know who broke in, how, and why? I need to Google, I guess.
ArishMell · 70-79, M
@joe438 I don't suppose they know (yet?) who was responsible but I hope they are caught and brought to justice. Tracing such criminals would be matter for the Police helped by the appropriate communications-security people; but if traced to some country abroad actually having the suspects arrested and investigated may be harder.

Motive? It appears simply to be money - threatening further action unless the company comes to an "agreement" with the thieves.

Their methods should never be revealed.

Naive employee: possibly.

Though not specifically referring to this case, a News report I listened to yesterday did say these types of criminals are using similar tactics to the fraudulent ones who try to claim to be from your bank, etc. In software theft, but posing as members of the victim company's own IT department (separate from the development department).
joe438 · 61-69, M
@ArishMell was it a ransomware thing? I kind of figured if they leaked images it had to be something like a competitor or maybe just some a-holes showing off that they could hack in.
ArishMell · 70-79, M
@joe438 Yes, but differing from most of those by not simply blocking use of the computers.

The attackers revealed quotes from the new edition of the game, before its intended release; and also showed or said they had sections of the code. The ransom demand was predicated on them not revealing any more.

These don't seem to be show-offs, but determined, very highly-skilled programmers with criminal intent.
joe438 · 61-69, M
@ArishMell I’ll guess that some naive employee fell for clickbait. I feel badly for the company though.
ArishMell · 70-79, M
@joe438 Possibly, because attempts like that are not unknown, but we don't know that in this case..
joe438 · 61-69, M
@ArishMell they’ll probably never admit what happened.
ArishMell · 70-79, M
@joe438 No, I would think not. It would be a huge mistake to go into deep detail that might help these or other attackers.