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Illuvium, founded by Australian brothers, offers a suite of games built on the Ethereum blockchain.
A hacker is selling a database containing more than 1 million emails, allegedly belonging to a blockchain gaming company.
The data is for sale on a Russian-language hacking forum, and the asking price is US$8,000.
The database includes names and addresses, email details, IP numbers, and a number of fields related to the organisation the people belong to and when they were last contacted – presumably by Illuvium if the claim is true.
Cyber Daily has not seen the post nor confirmed the validity of the sample addresses provided but has seen a screenshot shared by threat researchers Falcon Feeds. Russian-language hacking forums are highly restrictive with who they let join, and, in this case, the forum requires a bitcoin payment to join.
As to whether Illuvium itself has that many people on its books is another question.
Illuvium is a decentralised studio, and despite its senior staff and founders being largely based in Sydney and Melbourne, it is a global concern run in a “decentralised” manner, according to its own description.
“A decentralised studio building the world’s first interoperable blockchain game (IBG) universe including an open-world exploration game, industrial city builder, and autobattler, all on the Ethereum blockchain,” the studio’s website said.
One of the main selling points of the games is that items are actually owned by players, thanks to being built on-chain.
“Each asset is verifiable on the Ethereum blockchain, proving your ownership,” the company said. “By giving true custody to the player – versus belonging to the game – you have the power to collect and trade in-game items and collectables in the marketplace at your discretion.”
The game also has its own cryptocurrency – also called Illuvium, currently trading at an exchange rate of just shy of $145. The value is currently rising based on news that the game will soon be listed on the Epic Games Store, a popular online marketplace.
The game’s player count is hard to judge, however. Its Discord server currently has less than 200,000 members, and its YouTube channel’s frequent videos only gather views in the thousands. However, according to Cointelegraph, the game’s beta was aiming to have 75,000 players by May and “claims it has 2 million registered beta users”, presumably waiting to join the game when they can.
It must be said that hacking forums are rife with posters claiming to have a new dataset for sale, but often, what’s on offer is either scraped from other sources or leaks from other companies entirely.
Cyber Daily has reached out to Illuvium’s chief technology officer for comment.
David Hollingworth has been writing about technology for over 20 years, and has worked for a range of print and online titles in his career. He is enjoying getting to grips with cyber security, especially when it lets him talk about Lego.
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