Pierluigi Paganini March 19, 2024

On Sunday, two competitive esports players were hacked while participating at the Apex Legends Global Series tournament.

Electronic Arts postponed the North American (NA) finals of the Apex Legends Global Series tournament after two competitive esports players were hacked during a match.

The Apex Legends Global Series (ALGS) is the premier esports tournament for Apex Legends. It’s a year-long circuit where top players from around the world compete for prize money and glory.

Techcrunch reported that two different players during separate matches suddenly gained cheats.

“Wait, what the fuck? I’m getting hacked, I’m getting hacked bro, I’m getting hacked,” said Genburten during the game.

In the video, it was clear that Genburten was able to see other players highlighted on the map, even those hidden behind obstacles such as walls (so-called “wallhack”).

During the match (video min 1.59), Genburten, suddenly displayed a cheat tool called ‘TSM HALAL HOOK.’

Taking a look at the chat on the left panel of the screen, it is possible to see a message from the hacker:

“Apex hacking global series, by Destroyer2009 &R4andom.”

The organizers of the tournament suspended the matches and postponed the tournament because the “competitive integrity of this series was compromised”

According to the ‘Anti-Cheat Police Department,’ the threat actors exploited a remote code execution vulnerability to hack into the players’ clients. It is unclear if the flaw impacts the gaming platform, or the anti-cheat software.

“Attention to all players who participated in the ALGS tournament, I strongly recommend that you take immediate measures to protect your personal information. It is advisable that you change your Discord passwords and ensure that your emails are secure. also enable MFA for all your accounts if you have not done it yet perform a clean OS reinstall as soon as possible.” warned the Anti-Cheat Police Department. “Do not take any chances with your personal information, your PC may have been exposed to a rootkit or other malicious software that could cause further damage.”

This incident marks an unprecedented event in Apex Legends Global Series history, with gamers being hacked during a match. It is also the first time that the tournament was suspended.

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Pierluigi Paganini

(SecurityAffairs – hacking, Apex Legends Global Series)