Capcom is behind popular franchises such as Resident Evil, Mega Man, and Monster Hunter, but it appears it has been the victim of a cyberattack from a third party that compromised personal information from the company.

Capcom Group has officially detailed a cyber attack it's been victimized by, which has been tracked since November 2nd, 2020. Capcom has been investigating the cyber attack with the help of external specialist companies and has begun taking measures to prevent future incidents. Its internal systems are nearly completely restored.

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The Technology Security Oversight Committee is working with Capcom Group to strengthen both security and the protection of personal information while gathering all of the information on the cyberattack that it can. Capcom Group began observing the cyberattack last year and has continued to receive information on the hacking as recently as April 13. Capcom Group first realized it was the victim of a ransomware attack that encrypted data on devices on the company's network. The hackers which identified themselves as Ragnar Locker left a threatening message for Capcom Group which caused it to contact the Osaka Prefectural Police.

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On November 4th, 2020 Capcom Group issued its first press release related to the cyberattack, saying that it's monitoring network issues due to unauthorized access. Capcom Group was quickly able to identify nine pieces of personal and corporate information items had been compromised. The company issued an update on the cyberattack on November 16, after contacting multiple IT security specialist companies to find the root of the problem. Capcom Group is working with both local and international organizations and law enforcement to find and punish the hacker behind the ransomware attack.

The hacker utilized weakness in the company's older backup VPN device in order to obtain confidential information that has since been replaced. Devices at both US and Japanese Capcom offices have been infected with ransomware, which initially affected access to certain systems, including file servers and email. After the recent ransomware attack on CD Projekt RED, it isn't a huge surprise to see more game developers being cyberattacked, but it is disheartening to see so many people behind games having their livelihoods threatened.

"Due to the growing burden on the Company's network stemming from the spread of COVID-19 in the State of California," said Capcom in a recent press release, "One of the aforementioned older VPN devices remained solely at this North American subsidiary as an emergency backup in case of communication issues, and it became the target of the attack."

Covid-19 made Capcom Group's systems all the more vulnerable to this ransomware attack, which illustrates yet another aspect of the gaming industry being affected by the virus. Considering Capcom Group is working with authorities to locate the hacker behind this cyber attack, it's only a matter of time before their identity is revealed. While some cyber attacks make valuable information public, there are plenty of reasons developers don't announce something until it's ready.

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Source: Capcom