Microsoft Corporation games and those produced by other big names such as Valve and Epic, were subject to hacking for data between 2012 and April 2014. The hacking was purportedly carried out by a teenage group.The group was accused of stealing unreleased software, source code and trade secrets about video games.
Austin Alcala, 19 years old has now pleaded to infiltrating Microsoft Corporation systems as well as other major gaming publications as FIFA, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare and Gears of War.Alcala has been accused by the US Department of Justice to crimes of stealing log-in credentials of over 11,266 players of games from a company. Later, he is believed to have distributed the details to other members of the group.
Law enforcement estimated that the value of the intellectual property and other data stolen by the ring ranges between $100 and $200 million. The other three members of the group, ages 20 to 28, have pleaded guilty and remain in custody pending sentencingThe recovery status of Microsoft is still unknown.
