Last month, hackers wreaked havoc during an esports tournament for the popular shooter Apex Legends, hacking two well-known streamers during the game to make it appear they were using cheats.
A month later, the hacking saga appears to have come to an end, as game developers patched the bugs exploited by the hackers.
Due to the hack, organizers had to cancel the tournament on March 17th. Two days later, Apex Legends developer Respawn announced that This was stated on X's official account. “We are introducing the first in a series of layered updates to protect the Apex Legends player community.” A week later, I wrote that the company has “We've added another update aimed at further protecting players and ensuring Apex Legends is competitive.”
Respawn's post does not specifically state that the update fixed the bugs exploited during the tournament. However, the hacker behind the cheating scandal told TechCrunch this week that Respawn's patch fixed the vulnerability that was exploited to hack the two streamers.
“The exploit I used was [Apex Legends Global Series] The patch is fully applied,” the hacker, who identified himself as Destroyer2009, said in an online chat.
Destroyer2009 previously told TechCrunch that he hacked the two streamers “for fun,” but said he didn't want to reveal the technical details of the bug he exploited, even if it's currently patched. Ta.
“No one likes to see critical vulnerabilities in their products exposed to the public. I asked a friend and he said he was hesitant because he didn't want to reveal what happened from a technical standpoint to the public yet. We all agreed,” the hacker said, referring to his friend who helped develop the hack.
Contact Us Do you know more about this hack? Or is this another video game hack? You can contact Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai securely from any non-work device on Signal (+1 917 257 1382) or on Telegram, Keybase and Wire @lorenzofb, or email. You can also contact TechCrunch via SecureDrop.
Please refer to Unrelated in-game update failure On this week's Respawn, Destroyer2009 said:[I] Don't think it's fair to embarrass them further. ”
Destroyer2009 said he tested the exploit after Respawn announced the second update on March 26, but said it could have been patched sooner as he didn't have a chance to test it before. Ta.
The Destroyer2009 hack was high-profile, destructive, and caused a huge stir in the Apex Legends community. The two targeted streamers, ImperialHal and Geburten, have a combined 2.5 million followers on the game streaming platform Twitch, and several other Apex Legends players and streamers also posted about the hack on their channels. Commented on the news.
However, Respawn has not announced the patches that have been released. TechCrunch has asked development studio owners Respawn and Electronic Arts to confirm whether the exploit used by Destroyer2009 has actually been patched, and if so, when. I asked him to confirm.
However, neither Respawn nor Electronic Arts responded to TechCrunch's multiple requests for comment. Neither company has responded to requests for comment in recent weeks.
On the other hand, Destroyer2009 said, “I don't think we'll do any more serious hacks than this right now.'' [Apex tournament hack] Accidents are already considered genuine hacks with all the consequences. [probably] As usual, I'm going to play the game until I get bored. ”