gaming origin hack

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EA fixes ‘chain of vulnerabilities’ that exposed Origin gamers to hackers

It’s time to update Origin.

gaming origin hack

Image via Pixabay

EA’s Origin service allows users the convenience of purchasing and playing EAs games across platforms. However, a security vulnerability could have exposed millions of users to potential cyber threats.

Cyber Security Intelligence groups Check Point and CyberInt identified what they described as a “chain of vulnerabilities” in the Origin gaming client.

The EA gaming client is the interface between the user and their Origin account, which contains their personal and financial information and also the record of their virtual purchases.

The Origin client also has social features which allow users to chat with friends and communicate with their social media accounts like Facebook as well as their PlayStation Network, Xbox Live or Nintendo Network accounts.

CyberInt and Check Point followed agreed vulnerability disclosure practices in informing EA of the problems with the Origin client.

This allowed the company the opportunity to find a solution for the vulnerability and roll out a fix before it could be exploited by hackers trying to profit from their users’ personal information.

“EA’s Origin platform is hugely popular; and if left unpatched, these flaws would have enabled hackers to hijack and exploit millions of users’ accounts,” said Oded Vanunu, head of products vulnerability research for Check Point.

Besides the risk to users personal information according to CyberInt, there is a large black market in in-game items on the darknet, which is one of the reasons gaming companies are becoming popular targets.

Itay Yanovski, co-founder and SVP strategy for CyberInt Technologies said gaming goods are traded in official and unofficial marketplaces on the darknet for large sums of money. He adds:

“We believe the cybersecurity industry has the responsibility to protect people, so we make sure to alert the industry with threat-centric security research on newly detected adversary campaigns, such as the recent TA505 – to ensure that the most effective detection and mitigation measures are taken.”

To minimize risk to your accounts and personal information, both CyberInt and Check Point highly recommend that users enable two-factor authentication wherever it is available.

This makes high-jacking your account much more difficult and could save you money as well as your valuable game progress and items.