Apex Legends tournament disrupted by fraudulent RCE exploit hack
The North American finals of the Apex Legends Global Series (ALGS) ended with a bang this weekend, but the twist in the story was one that no one expected (or wanted). Midway through the regional event, players were targeted by hacks that disrupted the “competitive integrity” of the match, causing the final stages of the tournament to be postponed.
Shortly after the incident, speculation arose about the source of the attack, with questions being raised about the Easy Anti-Cheat software. Epic Games has since released a statement claiming there is no connection between the remote hack and the EAC.
βWe are confident that NO RCE vulnerability is being exploited within EAC.β
Because the competitive integrity of this series is at risk, we have decided to postpone the NA Finals at this time. We will share more information soon.March 18, 2024
To divide the tasks
The tournament was in full swing when DarkZero’s Noyan Ozkose (AKA Genburten) and TSM’s Phillip Dosen (AKA ImperialHall) were hit by RCE hacks that allowed a bad actor to directly interfere with the game.
Ozkose and Dosen’s cheats were suddenly and unexpectedly made possible. Oskoze could see the position of enemy players through the walls and strange messages (“Apex hacking global series by Destroyer2009 & R4ndom”) scrolled across the screen during the action. Oskoze responded quickly, taking his hands off his keyboard and alerting his team to the problem.
Likewise, when Dosen aimed at a target, it was with the help of an aimbot, even though he didn’t enable the cheat himself.
Respawn canceled the match in response to the incidents, citing that the competition had been jeopardized, and postponed the NA Finals. More information about the rescheduling will follow in due course.
Investigating the anti-cheat exploit
Naturally, there was plenty of speculation on Twitter, with players and spectators wondering how such a prominent tournament could be blown off course by REC hacks. The volunteer group Anti-Cheat Police Department joined the conversation, warning players that their personal information could be at risk unless they took specific measures, such as renewing old passwords and reinstalling their operating systems.
The Anti-Cheat Police Department stated that Easy Anti-Cheat, the security system used by Apex Legends, was a possible cause of the problem. The group believes that the EAC can be co-opted by bad actors and used to inject hacks into streamer PCs or infect them with ransomware.
However, Epic Games has refuted this claim, stating that:
βAt this time, we are confident that no RCE vulnerability is being exploited within EAC. We will continue to work closely with our partners for any follow-up support required.β
A problem to solve
How can similar incidents be prevented? The last thing a professional player wants during a high-stakes tournament is to be the target of a remote hack β and casual players may be wondering if the same threats could affect their games too.
Gaming VPNs certainly have their uses, especially if you want to put an end to DDoS attacks, but they can’t guarantee protection against remote exploits. However, VPNs can make it much harder for bad actors to target you in the first place.
By masking your original IP address and routing your DNS requests through an intermediary, VPNs provide an extra layer of security when gaming online. A cybercriminal should work lot more difficult to obtain your identifying information.
Still, a VPN doesn’t guarantee total digital protection, especially if you’re concerned about ransomware. NordVPN has its own security suite, with malware detection tools, and prevents downloads from happening on the sly. That is useful, but VPNs are not the best protection against more persistent digital threats: think of viruses, ransomware, malware and other digital nasties.
However, the best antivirus software can help you with real-time protection and scans that aren’t just browser-based.