Tensions are high over at Roblox HQ as a recent data heist robbed the platform of over 4 gigabytes of sensitive documentation. The hackers subsequently added insult to the injury by posting their loot on a forum. The motive behind the massive theft of digital information is suspected to be an attempt at extortion.
Roblox is an incredibly popular cash grab with an estimated value of over $65 billion. According to internal analyses, over 50% of minors in the United States are active Roblox players. Roblox has a unique, somewhat lazy, and definitely controversial business model whereby players – primarily minors – create their own games.
Players can then also implement various microtransactions into their games in an attempt to monetize them. This way, players do the actual work, and the company simply exists to cash in on the creativity of its player base.
This hack is particularly problematic due to the information that hackers were able to obtain. The documentation in question is primarily comprised of critical information about some of Roblox’s most successful games, including the identification particulars and email addresses of the creators behind the platform’s biggest games. Games that are, in many cases, created by minors.
The news first dropped on Vice, where Roblox stated that ‘Roblox has been actively investigating a phishing incident which involved a Roblox employee being targeted by cybercriminals. These stolen documents were illegally obtained as part of an extortion scheme that we refused to cooperate with.’
Roblox was reportedly quick to respond to the attack. ‘We acted quickly upon learning of the incident, engaged independent experts to complement our information security team, and have tuned our systems to seek to detect and prevent similar attempts.’
In the aftermath of the attack, many users faced significant outages while trying to play Roblox. Although, this isn’t a new issue. After all, outages and the subsequent Google search queries as to the nature, duration, and solution thereof are the main reason Roblox is the most searched game in the world at the moment.
We can only hope that Roblox is more successful in safeguarding the private information of its remaining creators.
