Frogster COO Dirk Weyel is refusing to give in to the demands of a hacker that compromised account details for a huge number of the publisher's users in games like Runes of Magic and Bounty Bay Online. Account details of more than 2,100 players has already been posted by the hacker, who claims to have compromised more than 3.5 million others and has threatened to release more if a series of demands are not met. Additionally, the hacker also claims to have compromised almost all of Frogster's systems and has threatened to bring down the gaming servers if his/her list of demands are not met, a promise that has thus far not been delivered on. Frogster has involved the authorities and an investigation is underway.
In an interview with Gamesindustry.biz, Weyel stated that Frogster "will not negotiate with or cede to the demands of the hacker", which ironically included better game security and easing up on forum restrictions. After increased security features were added to Frogster games last week, it would appear that the free-to-play (runes of magic gold)publisher did at least yield to that demand. Weyel agrees that the team needs to work to make the system more secure against attacks, but in doing so, it has shifted their focus from developing game content to making the system more secure.
