Cyber Incident Victim: Riot Games
Date:
Jan 2014
Location:
United States of America
Summary
Multiple gaming platforms, including League of Legends, experienced temporary server disruptions due to distributed denial-of-service attacks claimed by the hacker group DERP Trolling. The group utilized a tool dubbed the "Gaben Laser Beam" and publicly solicited target requests via Twitter. These cyberattacks were linked to harassment against a prominent streamer, involving swatting incidents after personal details were leaked online. While DERP denied direct involvement in the swatting, the coordinated disruptions affected several major online gaming services, illustrating an escalation in retaliatory actions targeting individuals through infrastructure attacks.
| CIA Posture | Motives | Tactics, Techniques & Procedures |
|---|---|---|
| Available to members | 2 motives | 1 technique |
| Threat Actor | Type | Location |
|---|---|---|
| 1 actor | Available to members | Available to members |
Description
On January 3, 2014, multiple online gaming platforms—including League of Legends, Steam, Origin, and Battle.net—experienced temporary server outages due to apparent distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks. The hacker group DERP Trolling claimed responsibility for targeting Origin, Battle.net, League of Legends, World of Tanks, and EA.com, referencing their use of a DDoS tool dubbed the "Gaben Laser Beam," a reference to Valve founder Gabe Newell. These attacks coincided with harassment directed at YouTube streamer PhantomL0rd, whose personal information had been leaked online. The group advertised a phone number for users to submit target requests, suggesting crowd-sourced target selection. Concurrently, separate Twitter users claimed responsibility for the Steam disruption. All affected services resumed normal operations by the time of the article’s publication.
The attacks escalated from disrupting games PhantomL0rd streamed—and monetized via ads—to direct personal harassment, culminating in a swatting incident where police were falsely dispatched to his home, resulting in his temporary detainment in handcuffs. DERP Trolling denied involvement in the swatting but acknowledged targeting gaming platforms, linking their actions to broader disruptions across the industry. The incident highlighted the convergence of DDoS attacks against gaming infrastructure with real-world harassment tactics, marking one of the first high-profile cases where gaming services became collateral damage in a vendetta against an individual. No mitigation efforts or responses from Riot Games (League of Legends’ developer) or other affected companies were detailed in the reporting.