The hacker who leaked information about the next-gen Xbox and PlayStation to Kotaku before either console was officially announced and who was subsequently raided by the police is now vowing to disseminate 2 Terabytes of gaming code and information, should he be arrested.
SuperDaE, an Australian citizen named Dylan, first publicized this threat on our sister site Gizmodo. He told that outlet that he expects to be arrested on Monday and that, if heâs not at his computer by 8pm Monday evening in Perth, Australia (8am ET), a Tweet will automatically be sent from his account that will make all of the gaming info heâs hacked from the worldâs top video game companies public.
https://lastchance.cc/the-incredible-rise-and-fall-of-a-hacker-who-found-the-5986239%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E
The FTP also apparently contains software development kits for the PS4, Xbox One and Wii U as well as possible old code for unreleased games such as Company of Heroes 2 and WWE 14. The Epic directory includes folders for Unreal Engine 4 and UE4 projects called Fortnite (an announced game), Kilo, Lima and Orion.
Weâre not able to verify the authenticity of any of these files, though SuperDaE had shared accurate development documentation with Kotaku for the then code-named Orbis (PS4) and Durango (Xbox One) near the start of the year. At the time, we were unclear where or how SuperDaE had obtained such information and were under the impression, after reporting out the story of SuperDaEâs hacking and mid-February police raid, that heâd not made any subsequent hacks.
The FTP, we believe, contains the data heâd obtained from his pre-raid hacks.
âIt only leaks if I get arrested,â SuperDaE told Kotaku today. Asked why he expected to be arrested, he said, âIâm not expecting anything. Iâm just making a political statement.â
SuperDaE has maintained that he only hacks out of curiosity and doesnât distribute game code to torrents or engage in piracy.
He also says that the raid of his home, which resulted in the seizure of his computers and gaming hardware, was never followed up with any charges. He believes that the FBI played a hand in the raid, though weâve never been able to confirm that. Last December, the FBI did raid the home of one of his hacker colleagues in New Jersey.
SuperDaE believes he was raided at the behest of Microsoft, whose chief of digital security had flown to Australia to meet with SuperDaE late last year.
In February, Microsoft denied triggering the raid. âMicrosoft did not initiate this FBI investigation with this individual, as has been asserted in some of the articles in the media,â a company spokesperson had told Kotaku. âWe take security very seriously and have no evidence of any compromise of our corporate network. We have no further comment on this matter.â
Asked what political statement he was trying to make, SuperDaE said today: âThe U.S. works on Capitalism. The government isnât Microsoftâs personal servant.â
Should the FTPâs data be as real as he says it is and leak, it wouldnât just be Microsoft that would be affected. As for whether the release of unreleased game code would be fair to those who made the gamesâcompanies that arenât Microsoftâhe replied: âIt isnât fair, but thatâs how Capitalism works. Theyâre playing a dirty game. Itâs like a game of poker.â
UPDATE â SuperDaE has since claimed to have been granted bail, tweeting:
https://twitter.com/embed/status/338904678538559488
https://twitter.com/embed/status/338921551539879937
To contact the author of this post, write to [email protected] or find him on Twitter @stephentotilo
