In a massive blunder by Electronic Arts, the personal information of 1,600 competitors in the FIFA 20 Global Series was leaked online. EA has since apologized publicly for the data breach, which happened on Oct. 3. The page in question was taken down 30 minutes later by EA, but many professional players taking part had already posted screenshots to social media.
Potential security issues in EA’s games and services can be reported directly to [email protected]. Additional information about our Product Security Vulnerability Reporting program and updates about potential security issues can be found at https://t.co/QiejuMjCAv.
— EA SPORTS FIFA (@EASPORTSFIFA) October 3, 2019
EA data breach
Below is the statement EA released regarding the data breach.
An update on the EA SPORTS FIFA 20 Global Series registration page issue from October 3. pic.twitter.com/t5R6HwYd3I
— EA SPORTS FIFA (@EASPORTSFIFA) October 4, 2019
While this data breach didn’t affect any customers, players who were competing in the FIFA 20 Global Series event could see the information about other competitors. This included their email, date of birth, username, and country. Nothing like credit card information or passwords was exposed, but this still was something that shouldn’t have happened. This is especially so because many of the players competing are also personalities that have sizeable fan audiences.
One player tweeted a screenshot of what he could see upon signing in instead of his own information. The details belong to Yani Ourabah, an NBA presenter on UK channel 24 Swish. However, others also report seeing the information of individuals like professional FIFA player Joey “Joey” Calabro for Ajax Esports.
My friend got a big pull in the Data Breach pack, Hashtag's own Algerian Arrow, @YaniOurabah.
We'll send you a birthday card.
What a mess. pic.twitter.com/IYMT1ieq4g
— George Hughes (@GeorgeHughes) October 3, 2019
FIFA 20 Global Series
The FIFA 20 Global Series was recently announced with the release of FIFA 20. This year’s competitive season will have over $3 million USD in its prize pool. During the Global Series, six FIFA Ultimate Team Champions Cups will be hosted. This will happen between Nov. 8, 2019, and May 15, 2020. Over 20 traditional soccer leagues will participate, including the ePremier League, Major League Soccer, La Liga, and more. This data breach puts a damper on the excitement surrounding the series though. EA just can’t evade controversy.
Would you still trust EA after something like this? Let us know what you think, and keep up with Daily Esports for all of your FIFA coverage.
