Codemasters and AMD have confirmed that over three million digital vouchers for Steam have been stolen for DiRT 3. According to a report from Industry Gamers (citing a Steam forum post), hackers used an .htaccess exploit that allowed them to gain access to an .sql database containing the codes. Those codes were meant to be used for a future AMD graphics card promotion.
"This past weekend, activation keys associated with free DiRT 3 game vouchers shipping with select AMD products were compromised," said AMD in a statement. "These activation keys were hosted on a third party fulfillment agency website, www.AMD4u.com, and did not reside on AMD's website. Neither the AMD nor Codemasters servers were involved."
"We are working closely with Steam, Codemasters, and our fulfillment agency to address the situation. AMD will continue to honor all valid game vouchers, however the current situation may result in a short delay before the vouchers can be redeemed."
The good news is that the huge batch of codes that were stolen can be traced, and Codemasters claims that they should be able to deactivate the codes in due time.
Source: Eurogamer by way of Industry Gamers
Comments
Re: Three Million DiRT 3 Game Vouchers Stolen by Hackers
Re: Three Million DiRT 3 Game Vouchers Stolen by Hackers
I disagree (though it's quite possible I've misunderstood exactly what happened here). If someone takes my stuff without my permission, my stuff has been stolen. It doesn't matter if I've left my front door wide open with my stuff neatly piled in the doorway.
That does make me stupid but it doesn't make my stuff any less stolen.
Andrew Eisen
Re: Three Million DiRT 3 Game Vouchers Stolen by Hackers
Taking your stuff against your will is stealing, but you're using that logic on something that doesn't apply. Stealing leaves the victim without what is theirs. Has anyone lost anything? No, they still have the codes, but the hackers (sic) have them too, which they can invalidate. So they might be able to acquire copies of Dirt3 without participating in the promotion, but Codemasters will not have fewer copies of the game as a result. That is, if they are digital downloads and not printed discs shipped in boxes. It might be applicable to accuse them of fraud if they attempt to redeem those vouchers, but stealing isn't. What they did would be more akin to eavesdropping, espionage, or wiretapping.
Your definition of stealing is flawed, especially in the eyes of the law. That said, what happened was a deplorable act that resulted in an interruption of service for actual customers of AMD and Codemasters. It was rather pointless act as well since it's easier to acquire the DRM-free version from bittorrent. Given all that, it's a seriously dick move and they should stand to answer for the damage they did.
-Greevar
"Paste superficially profound, but utterly meaningless quotation here."
Re: Three Million DiRT 3 Game Vouchers Stolen by Hackers
Replace "stole" with "misappropriate" if it makes you happy.
Andrew Eisen
Re: Three Million DiRT 3 Game Vouchers Stolen by Hackers
It's more like an infringement of privacy, similar to trespassing.
-Greevar
"Paste superficially profound, but utterly meaningless quotation here."
Re: Three Million DiRT 3 Game Vouchers Stolen by Hackers
Whatever, buddy. I know you understand the specifics of what happened so I really don't care what you call it.
Andrew Eisen
Re: Three Million DiRT 3 Game Vouchers Stolen by Hackers
Re: Three Million DiRT 3 Game Vouchers Stolen by Hackers
Not unless those keys were posted in plain text on the front page of AMD4u's website or something similar. Hell, even my "open front door" analogy isn't applicable.
Andrew Eisen
Re: Three Million DiRT 3 Game Vouchers Stolen by Hackers
Re: Three Million DiRT 3 Game Vouchers Stolen by Hackers
"Not unless those keys were posted in plain text on the front page of AMD4u's website or something similar."
Andrew Eisen
Re: Three Million DiRT 3 Game Vouchers Stolen by Hackers
I think it would be more apt to say you left your door unlocked. From an external perspective it would seem that your stuff was secure, but when more closely inspected the flaw is revealed.
E. Zachary Knight
Divine Knight Gaming
OK Game Devs
Random Tower
Re: Three Million DiRT 3 Game Vouchers Stolen by Hackers
That seem a fairer analogy. But then, on the internet, you'd have to account for thousands of people that keep trying the lock every day... You can argue it's good or bad, but it most definitely is common enough to take into account.
Re: Three Million DiRT 3 Game Vouchers Stolen by Hackers
.htaccess exploit? I'd hardly call it an exploit. Hell, I wouldn't even call it a hack. The directories (plural. There was more than one: an SQL directory showing some keys in 3 sql files, and a keys directory showing ALL keys in plain text files) were WIDE OPEN (and continued to be such for hours after it was made public). A hack? More like a complete lack of security.
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Papa Midnight