Epic Games, Valve and Microsoft Hackers Indicted in the US

Gears of War 3 source code is one of the many pieces of intellectual property stolen.

Four members of an international hacking group have been caught and charged by the US government for hacking and stealing content, including stealing source code, from various game developers.

According to a report from the Department of Justice, the group has stolen over $100 million worth of intellectual property. Not only were large gaming companies, such as Epic Games, Valve, Microsoft and Zombie Studios attacked, but the US Army was also targeted. Some of the data stolen included information regarding the Xbox One before it released. 

The four individuals involved, Nathan Leroux, 20, of Bowie, Maryland; Sanadodeh Nesheiwat, 28, of Washington, New Jersey; David Pokora, 22, of Mississauga, Ontario, Canada; and Austin Alcala, 18, of McCordsville, Indiana, have all been charged with an 18-count indictment. The indictment includes charges for conspiracies to commit computer fraud, copyright infringement, wire fraud, mail fraud, identity theft and theft of trade secrets. Of the four charged, Pokora and Nesheiwat have already pleaded guilty. 

The hackers found information on Xbox One before its announcement

“As the indictment charges, the members of this international hacking ring stole trade secret data used in high-tech American products, ranging from software that trains U.S. soldiers to fly Apache helicopters to Xbox games that entertain millions around the world,” said Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, one of the three attorneys in charge of the case. “The American economy is driven by innovation.  But American innovation is only valuable when it can be protected.  Today’s guilty pleas show that we will protect America’s intellectual property from hackers, whether they hack from here or from abroad.”

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