Cheaters never prosper
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Image credit: Rockstar Games
A popular cheat service used by Grand Theft Auto V players has reportedly suffered a major data breach, exposing personal information belonging to tens of thousands of users.
Atlas Menu, which provides software players can use to modify gameplay in Grand Theft Auto Online, was hacked in May, according to breach notification service Have I Been Pwned (HIBP).
The incident is said to have compromised more than 64,000 unique email addresses, along with usernames, IP addresses, support tickets and encrypted passwords.
The alleged attacker has published what they claim is the service’s entire customer database on a public GitHub repository.
In a statement accompanying the leak, the attacker said they gained access to “all Atlas systems” before extracting customer records, software licence keys, account identifiers linked to Rockstar Games, support conversations and internal administrative data.
The leak also appears to contain records relating to thousands of users who had previously been banned from the service.
Prior to the outage, the service advertised what it described as secure authentication systems and enhanced privacy protections.
The popularity of GTA Online, and the lucrative market for videogame cheats, meant Atlas Menu was always going to be a prime target for attackers. In fact, according to users on Reddit, this was not the first time Atlas Menu has faced security issues. However, the latest leak appears to be much larger than previous incidents.
Cybersecurity researchers note that the exposure of support tickets, purchase histories and account identifiers could make affected individuals vulnerable to further scams, account takeover attempts or unwanted scrutiny.
Rockstar Games breach
The Atlas breach comes only weeks after GTA developer Rockstar Games was linked to a separate security incident claimed by the hacking group ShinyHunters.
In that case, the attackers claimed they gained access not by directly breaching Rockstar’s systems or its cloud provider, but through a third-party analytics platform used to monitor cloud spending and performance.
According to the group’s claims, authentication tokens obtained from the platform allowed them to access systems that trusted those credentials.
The Grand Theft Auto franchise
Grand Theft Auto remains one of the most commercially successful entertainment properties ever created, generating billions of dollars in revenue since the release of Grand Theft Auto V in 2013.
Attention is increasingly focused on the forthcoming release of Grand Theft Auto VI, one of the most anticipated video game launches in history.
Development of the title has reportedly spanned nearly a decade, with industry analysts estimating costs approaching $2bn.
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