Denuvo leaks massive data file, conversations with game studios

Denuvo, the application protection and anti-piracy technology platform, has just leaked about three years” worth of messages due to an unsecured server. Because some directories and files were left open on their website, contents could be easily downloaded.

A link to the log file was posted on 4chan and contains an 11MB file called Ajax.log. It has messages from as early as April 25, 2014, including game developers” requests and complaints, and inquiries from game studios like Codemasters, Relic Entertainment, 505 Games and Kalypso.

“Much of Denuvo’s web database content appears to be entirely unsecured, with root directories for “fileadmin” and “logs” sitting in the open right now,” explains ArsTechnica.

“This is Jun Matsumoto from CAPCOM Japan. I have a interested in the Denuvo Anti-Tamper solution to protect our game software. If you have a white paper about details, please send me. (ex. platform, usage, price, etc…) And, if you have a sales agent in Japan, please tell me the contact point. Thank you for your cooperations,” reads one of the messages.

This is not the first time the software solutions company is dealing with a crack, although they have been talking up their solid, unbeatable digital rights management (DRM) tool. Last week, Resident Evil 7″s protection was cracked in only five days.

“Resident Evil 7 being cracked in less than a week is a significant milestone for the crackers, one that could have big business impacts for Denuvo-protected games,” ArsTechnica writes. “With the Resident Evil 7 crack, we’re now entering a world in which Denuvo protection doesn’t even promise a full week of “uncracked” sales for a new game. That’s a world in which Denuvo’s value to publishers is probably significantly reduced.”