Many players of Riot Games’s beloved MOBA remember having to change his/her password around August 2013, when the game suffered numerous denial-of-service attacks. The breach in security resulted in many players’ account information, as well as credit card data, being released–causing a wrathful uproar from the displeased community.
Although Riot Games took many necessary steps to save its reputation, it seems the ultimate preventative measure was taken–a potential culprit has finally been located.
The Man Accused
21-year-old Shane Duffy from Kingaroy, Australia, was arrested by Queensland Police for aiding the DDOS attacks against popular video game, League of Legends.
Duffy is being charged with three counts of computer hacking and five counts of fraud for allegedly participating in the attacks, and selling other players’ IP addresses and login information. The IP addresses could be used by hackers to launch player-specific DDOS attacks.
Police claim that Duffy has received 880 separate and secure payments for releasing the indicated data during this last month alone. Police also believe Duffy was making over $1000 a day selling information and accounts.
“Australian police believe that Duffy hacked the American video game’s servers via a Dutch ISP, and then posted the stolen database information on a website based in Panama.” – Graham Cluley
Mom Defends Her Son
Duffy’s mother, Leah, claims what the majority of mothers would in this situation–her son’s innocence. The mother of two claims that although her son has extensive, self-taught computer knowledge, he did not commit these crimes.
She states that Duffy was pulled out of primary school in Year 4 because he had Asperger syndrome and the “education system did not want him.”
His mother continues to argue for her son by declaring: “Shane’s capable, but then the information he had and accessed was freely available on the internet. Somebody else has thrown the database out there… [my] son had more computer hacking knowledge than Queensland’s best cyber detective.”
Disputing the Hacker Profile
Many blog sites are pointing out that Duffy puts the usual portrait of an internet bully to shame. A 21-year-old male living with his mother, wielding a laptop, is not the Police’s general idea of a threat. In a statement, Det Supt Hay proclaimed:
“When you get the imagery that a skilled hacker has to be in a major city with a big bank of computers and sophisticated file servers surrounding them in a little bungalow … we are talking about a 21-year-old living with his mother and family with a laptop.”
Despite allegations, Duffy is due to appear in the Maryborough Magistrates Court on April 8.
When asked for a quote, Riot Games refused to comment.
