In May, the ransomware attack that forced a six-day shutdown of Colonial Pipeline — a key East Coast line that delivers gas to millions of people — brought the scary situation to the forefront of people’s minds. Days later, food processor JBS USA also suffered a cyberattack, which affected servers supporting its IT systems.
The uneasy trend continued in June, with several high-profile companies like McDonald’s and Peloton revealing they, too, were targeted by hackers. These incidents highlight the growing need for cybersecurity professionals, a space that’s facing a skills gap.
Hackers broke into the systems of Electronic Arts, one of the world’s biggest video game publishers, and stole source code used in company games. The company made the announcement earlier this month.
Online forum posts reviewed by CNN Business and vetted by an independent cybersecurity expert show that on June 6, hackers claimed to have obtained 780 gigabytes of data from EA (EA), including source code for Frostbite, the game engine that powers games that include titles in the FIFA, Madden and Battlefield series.
Brett Callow, a threat analyst at cybersecurity software maker Emsisoft, said losing control over source code could be problematic for EA’s business.
“Source code could, theoretically, be copied by other developers or used to create hacks for games,” Callow said.
An EA spokesperson said “no player data was accessed, and we have no reason to believe there is any risk to player privacy….
