French Gamer Sentenced for Hoax Hostage Call and DDoS Attacks on Ubisoft and Mojang
A French gamer has been sentenced after a series of incidents involving a hoax hostage call, DDoS attacks targeting a French government office, and the developer of Minecraft, Mojang. The 22-year-old individual, Yanni Ouahioune, falsely reported to the police that hostages had been taken at the Ubisoft Montreal offices on November 13, 2020. This led to employees seeking refuge in barricaded rooms and on the building’s roof while a police tactical unit arrived in armored vehicles to evacuate the premises. Unfortunately, it was only discovered afterwards that the call was a hoax, resulting in the unnecessary evacuation of thousands of workers.
The court later revealed that Ouahioune had been banned from playing Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege for cheating, claiming that he had been unfairly banned after allegedly cheating over 80 times. Ouahioune stated that he had spent thousands of dollars on in-game cosmetics and had politely requested the Ubisoft team to unban his account before resorting to swatting the Ubisoft offices.
This was not the first time that Ouahioune had engaged in such behavior. He had previously made false reports to trigger a heavy police response at Ubisoft offices and even targeted players he encountered while playing Rainbow Six Siege.
In light of these actions, a Paris court has sentenced Ouahioune to three years of community service. Additionally, he is required to compensate the victims, undergo treatment for a mental health issue, and either work or receive training during his sentence.
Ubisoft responded to the court’s decision through a statement to Polygon, expressing their commitment to supporting their affected employees and condemning the incident. They refrained from commenting on the punishment, stating, “Out of respect for our employees who were affected by this event, we will not comment further.”
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