Pierluigi Paganini
March 19, 2024
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.
Due to the competitive integrity of this series being compromised, we have made the decision to postpone the NA finals at this time.
— Apex Legends Esports (@PlayApexEsports) March 18, 2024
We will share more information soon.
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.
MULTI BILLION DOLLAR ESPORT BTWW pic.twitter.com/e1B9lfDt3C
— DZ_Genburten (@Genburten) March 18, 2024
So i was given Aimbot but it was just me playing on Controller all good guys. Nerf controller! pic.twitter.com/2ztHtoOnRB
— TSM ImperialHal (@ImperialHal) March 18, 2024
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.’
Some more information on the cheat that was injected into the streamers PC
— Anti-Cheat Police Department
clips: https://t.co/mWpTm6UmxY pic.twitter.com/pTtIZjUmX7(@AntiCheatPD) March 18, 2024
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.
PSA: There is currently an RCE exploit being abused in @PlayApex. It is unsure whether it comes from the game or the actual anti-cheat (@TeddyEAC ). I would advise against playing any games protected by EAC or any EA titles once they have fixed this or can comment.
— Anti-Cheat Police Department
Currently,…
“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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(SecurityAffairs – hacking, Apex Legends Global Series)
