Ubisoft Consults Kaspersky Lab to Authenticate Watch Dogs Script
Poster: SySAdmin
Posted on May 28, 2014 at 5:49:01 AM
Ubisoft Consults Kaspersky Lab to Authenticate Watch Dogs Script
LONDON, May 28, 2014 /PRNewswire/ --
Kaspersky Lab experts were consulted by the developers of the latest action-adventure
game, Watch Dogs [http://www.watchdogs.com ], today released worldwide by Ubisoft
[http://www.ubisoft.com ], a leading producer, publisher and distributor of interactive
entertainment products. Ubisoft wanted to avoid over-sensationalisation or
misinterpretation of the cyber-domain, and to make the theoretical cyber-scenarios in the
game, both during in-game play and in character/plot developments, as authentic as
possible.
Watch Dogs tells the story of Aiden Pearce, a brilliant hacker whose criminal past led
to a violent family tragedy. Now on the hunt for those who hurt his family, players will
be able to monitor and hack their enemies by manipulating everything connected to the
city's Central Operating System (ctOS). Watch Dogs lets the player use Chicago as their
ultimate weapon and exact their own style of revenge.
The Watch Dogs development team approached Kaspersky Lab's security experts at the
beginning of 2013, shortly after the latter issued a lengthy research paper on the
cyber-espionage campaign dubbed Red October
[http://www.kaspersky.com/about/news/virus/2013/Kaspersky_Lab_Identifies_Operation_Red_October_an_Advanced_Cyber_Espionage_Campaign_Targeting_Diplomatic_and_Government_Institutions_Worldwide ]
. This was a sophisticated toolkit for cyber-espionage activities able to steal
data from computer systems, collect information from smartphones, record audio if the
system had a microphone, and hack webcam streams, and upload everything to a server. By
that time, with most of the Watch Dogs script already complete, the developers were just
polishing it to make it look more realistic. This is where the team of Kaspersky Lab
experts joined in. It provided technical consultations and recommendations on what they
considered was accurate, and what could be tweaked, edited or changed to make the gameplay
and plot development more technically authentic.
Commenting on the consultation, Vitaly Kamluk, Principal Security Researcher with
Kaspersky Lab's Global Research & Analysis Team, said: "When we first heard about the game
we were really intrigued. Ubisoft was pretty accurate in terms of predicting upcoming
threats and how cities might look like in five or 10 years. Many of the in-game hacks have
become reality already. The game conveys well what might happen if control over systems
winds up in the wrong hands. You can seize this control yourself and see how it causes
difficulties for people all around you. You can take it to extremes to bring chaos to the
city. Your actions could even hurt or kill people."
For example, most of the hacks in the game are about automated control systems being
compromised. This is a relatively new trend that started several years ago with the
appearance of the Stuxnet worm, which attacked industrial control systems at an Iranian
nuclear facility. That was an example of how a computer program can break things in the
real world - Stuxnet actually broke physical equipment, and you can have the same thing in
Watch Dogs.
Vitaly Kamluk added: "Although some of the hacks are very similar to those occurring
in the real world, it is still just a simulation - thankfully! It's crucial to understand
that Watch Dogs doesn't teach you how to hack. What it can do is show you just how
powerful a hacking tool can be. We hope that this game will allow people to think about
the security of future city operating systems, which needs to be taken really seriously.
After all, if such systems are hacked, the consequences could be catastrophic."
"Working with Kaspersky Lab helped us to solidify the technical authenticity in the
game," said Thomas Geffroyd, brand content director, Ubisoft. "There were some liberties
we had to take in order to keep the game fun so Vitaly and his team gave us advice within
the parameters of including this content in a video game."
About Ubisoft
Ubisoft is a leading creator, publisher and distributor of interactive entertainment
and services, with a rich portfolio of world-renowned brands, including Assassin's Creed,
Just Dance, Tom Clancy's video game series, Rayman and Far Cry. The teams throughout
Ubisoft's worldwide network of studios and business offices are committed to delivering
original and memorable gaming experiences across all popular platforms, including
consoles, mobile phones, tablets and PCs. For the 2013-14 fiscal year Ubisoft generated
sales of EUR1,007 million. To learn more, please visit http://www.ubisoftgroup.com.
(c)2014 Ubisoft Entertainment. All Rights Reserved. Watch Dogs, Ubisoft and the
Ubisoft logo are trademarks of Ubisoft Entertainment in the U.S. and/or other countries.
About Kaspersky Lab
Kaspersky Lab is the world's largest privately held vendor of endpoint protection
solutions. The company is ranked among the world's top four vendors of security solutions
for endpoint users*. Throughout its more than 16-year history Kaspersky Lab has remained
an innovator in IT security and provides effective digital security solutions for large
enterprises, SMBs and consumers. Kaspersky Lab, with its holding company registered in the
United Kingdom, currently operates in almost 200 countries and territories across the
globe, providing protection for over 300 million users worldwide. Learn more
athttp://www.kaspersky.com.
* The company was rated fourth in the IDC rating Worldwide Endpoint Security Revenue
by Vendor, 2012. The rating was published in the IDC report "Worldwide Endpoint Security
2013-2017 Forecast and 2012 Vendor Shares (IDC #242618, August 2013). The report ranked
software vendors according to earnings from sales of endpoint security solutions in 2012.
Follow us on Twitter
http://www.twitter.com/kasperskyuk
Like us on Facebook
http://www.facebook.com/Kaspersky
Editorial contact:
Berkeley PR
Lauren White
kasperskylab@berkeleypr.co.uk
Telephone: +44-(0)118-909-0909
1650 Arlington Business Park
RG7 4SA, Reading
Kaspersky Lab UK
Ruth Knowles
Ruth.Knowles@kasperskylab.co.uk
Telephone: +44-(0)7590-440-433
Kingdom Street
W2 6BD, London
Kaspersky Lab
LONDON, May 28, 2014 /PRNewswire/ --
Kaspersky Lab experts were consulted by the developers of the latest action-adventure
game, Watch Dogs [http://www.watchdogs.com ], today released worldwide by Ubisoft
[http://www.ubisoft.com ], a leading producer, publisher and distributor of interactive
entertainment products. Ubisoft wanted to avoid over-sensationalisation or
misinterpretation of the cyber-domain, and to make the theoretical cyber-scenarios in the
game, both during in-game play and in character/plot developments, as authentic as
possible.
Watch Dogs tells the story of Aiden Pearce, a brilliant hacker whose criminal past led
to a violent family tragedy. Now on the hunt for those who hurt his family, players will
be able to monitor and hack their enemies by manipulating everything connected to the
city's Central Operating System (ctOS). Watch Dogs lets the player use Chicago as their
ultimate weapon and exact their own style of revenge.
The Watch Dogs development team approached Kaspersky Lab's security experts at the
beginning of 2013, shortly after the latter issued a lengthy research paper on the
cyber-espionage campaign dubbed Red October
[http://www.kaspersky.com/about/news/virus/2013/Kaspersky_Lab_Identifies_Operation_Red_October_an_Advanced_Cyber_Espionage_Campaign_Targeting_Diplomatic_and_Government_Institutions_Worldwide ]
. This was a sophisticated toolkit for cyber-espionage activities able to steal
data from computer systems, collect information from smartphones, record audio if the
system had a microphone, and hack webcam streams, and upload everything to a server. By
that time, with most of the Watch Dogs script already complete, the developers were just
polishing it to make it look more realistic. This is where the team of Kaspersky Lab
experts joined in. It provided technical consultations and recommendations on what they
considered was accurate, and what could be tweaked, edited or changed to make the gameplay
and plot development more technically authentic.
Commenting on the consultation, Vitaly Kamluk, Principal Security Researcher with
Kaspersky Lab's Global Research & Analysis Team, said: "When we first heard about the game
we were really intrigued. Ubisoft was pretty accurate in terms of predicting upcoming
threats and how cities might look like in five or 10 years. Many of the in-game hacks have
become reality already. The game conveys well what might happen if control over systems
winds up in the wrong hands. You can seize this control yourself and see how it causes
difficulties for people all around you. You can take it to extremes to bring chaos to the
city. Your actions could even hurt or kill people."
For example, most of the hacks in the game are about automated control systems being
compromised. This is a relatively new trend that started several years ago with the
appearance of the Stuxnet worm, which attacked industrial control systems at an Iranian
nuclear facility. That was an example of how a computer program can break things in the
real world - Stuxnet actually broke physical equipment, and you can have the same thing in
Watch Dogs.
Vitaly Kamluk added: "Although some of the hacks are very similar to those occurring
in the real world, it is still just a simulation - thankfully! It's crucial to understand
that Watch Dogs doesn't teach you how to hack. What it can do is show you just how
powerful a hacking tool can be. We hope that this game will allow people to think about
the security of future city operating systems, which needs to be taken really seriously.
After all, if such systems are hacked, the consequences could be catastrophic."
"Working with Kaspersky Lab helped us to solidify the technical authenticity in the
game," said Thomas Geffroyd, brand content director, Ubisoft. "There were some liberties
we had to take in order to keep the game fun so Vitaly and his team gave us advice within
the parameters of including this content in a video game."
About Ubisoft
Ubisoft is a leading creator, publisher and distributor of interactive entertainment
and services, with a rich portfolio of world-renowned brands, including Assassin's Creed,
Just Dance, Tom Clancy's video game series, Rayman and Far Cry. The teams throughout
Ubisoft's worldwide network of studios and business offices are committed to delivering
original and memorable gaming experiences across all popular platforms, including
consoles, mobile phones, tablets and PCs. For the 2013-14 fiscal year Ubisoft generated
sales of EUR1,007 million. To learn more, please visit http://www.ubisoftgroup.com.
(c)2014 Ubisoft Entertainment. All Rights Reserved. Watch Dogs, Ubisoft and the
Ubisoft logo are trademarks of Ubisoft Entertainment in the U.S. and/or other countries.
About Kaspersky Lab
Kaspersky Lab is the world's largest privately held vendor of endpoint protection
solutions. The company is ranked among the world's top four vendors of security solutions
for endpoint users*. Throughout its more than 16-year history Kaspersky Lab has remained
an innovator in IT security and provides effective digital security solutions for large
enterprises, SMBs and consumers. Kaspersky Lab, with its holding company registered in the
United Kingdom, currently operates in almost 200 countries and territories across the
globe, providing protection for over 300 million users worldwide. Learn more
athttp://www.kaspersky.com.
* The company was rated fourth in the IDC rating Worldwide Endpoint Security Revenue
by Vendor, 2012. The rating was published in the IDC report "Worldwide Endpoint Security
2013-2017 Forecast and 2012 Vendor Shares (IDC #242618, August 2013). The report ranked
software vendors according to earnings from sales of endpoint security solutions in 2012.
Follow us on Twitter
http://www.twitter.com/kasperskyuk
Like us on Facebook
http://www.facebook.com/Kaspersky
Editorial contact:
Berkeley PR
Lauren White
kasperskylab@berkeleypr.co.uk
Telephone: +44-(0)118-909-0909
1650 Arlington Business Park
RG7 4SA, Reading
Kaspersky Lab UK
Ruth Knowles
Ruth.Knowles@kasperskylab.co.uk
Telephone: +44-(0)7590-440-433
Kingdom Street
W2 6BD, London
Kaspersky Lab