DDoS Attacks Hit Games Like Assassin’s Creed and Final Fantasy XIV

Cybercriminals have unleashed a set of DDoS attacks on some prominent gaming companies, including the creators Assassin’s Creed and Final Fantasy XIV.

SC Media reports, “A set of DDoS attacks plagued a series of gaming publishers including Final Fantasy XIV’s creator Square Enix and Assassin’s Creed publisher Ubisoft, respectively on the day of the Assassin’s Creed Odyssey launch on Friday.”

Around October 4, Ubisoft began experiencing issues relating to connectivity; a tweet from Ubisoft Support stated- “We’re aware of the issues affecting connectivity on multiple titles on all platforms and are working towards resolving this ASAP”.

The actual attacks started surfacing next day morning; these attacks affected some of the company’s games- For Honor, Rainbow Six Siege etc.

An official forum post from Ubisoft had kept users updated about the developments. An update on the forum, at 12:30 PM EST on October 5 states, “We’re currently experiencing a series of DDoS attacks, which unfortunately are a common occurrence for almost all online service providers. This may impact connections to our games as well as server latency, and we are taking steps to mitigate this issue.”

Square Enix also announced the same day that it was fighting an attack targeting Final Fantasy XIV. Whether the attacks targeting the two companies are connected to one another or not is not yet confirmed.

Later that day Square Enix announced that it was also fighting off an attack aimed towards its popular MMORPG, Final Fantasy XIV although it is unclear if the attacks are connected or not.

Sean Newman, Director, Product Management at Corero Network Security, had responded to the news of these DDoS attacks gaming companies with a very notable comment. The comment reads, “With reports of more high-profile disruptions over the week-end, it’s somewhat bemusing why some providers of online gaming platforms appear to still accept a certain air of inevitability when it comes to suffering as the result of DDoS attacks. With solutions available which can protect against DDoS automatically, and in real-time, help is at hand to keep games online, avoid lag, and ensure that player confidence and bottom lines, are preserved.”

The SC Media report on the attacks makes this concluding remark, “Overall, many gamers noted that 2018 has been a relatively peaceful year for the online gaming community compared to previous years that were plagued by rampant DDoS attacks carried out by the Lizard Squad and other threat actors.”