A massive ransomware attack has hit the MMORPG video gameEthyrial: Echoes of Yore going to block well 17.000 account.
In question, an indie production by the developer Gellyberry Studioofficially announced what happened through the Discord channel official of the game.
The attack on the server, which occurred last Friday morning, went to encrypt account data resulting in a ransom request Bitcoin. At present it has not yet been revealed which group carried out the operation towards Ethyrial: Echoes of Yore, but the developers have confirmed their intention not to give in to blackmail.
The title, still in progress early-access, relies on monthly subscriptions for its survival. In this context, the attack suffered can represent enormous damage for developers who cannot count on the support of a giant in the sector. In any case, there is still hope for gamers to recover compromised characters and accounts.
Attack on MMORPG Ethyrial: Echoes of Yore: developers hope for partial data recovery
According to Gellyberry, there is still room for a partial recovery of what has been lost. According to the developers of Ethyrial: Echoes of Yore, a manual reset will be carried out “To the maximum extent possible for all concerned“.
The creators of the game then confirmed how they are ready to follow new paths to protect the MMORPG from any future attacks. Beyond backup most frequent accounts database, they intend to adopt a VPN P2P for all remote access to the server, with limitations to counteract any future intrusions.
Ransomware attacks in the context of gaming they are nothing new. Just think of ransomware HelloKitty which, more than two years ago, targeted a major software house such as CD PROJEKT RED. Despite this, it is the first time that an indie developer has been targeted, which may represent a precedent that is anything but reassuring for those working in the sector.