LCK Hit by Severe DDoS Attacks

The LCK Spring Split 2024 was interrupted due to severe DDoS attacks

The LCK has long been considered the most competitive tournament in Lol Esports, and T1 has set the stage for an amazing 2024 season with their decisive victory in Worlds 2023. However, as the LCK Spring Split 2024 was underway, Riot’s servers suffered persistent DDoS attacks that caused several matches to be delayed and eventually rescheduled. The integrity of League of Legends Champions Korea is at risk. On the League of Legends Reddit, users speculated that this might be related to the cancelling of the LCK in China.

Ashley Kang, an LCK content creator and journalist, brought the alarming situation to light by announcing that the remaining LCK matches for the week would be held privately due to the relentless attacks. The first incident occurred on February 28 during a match involving T1, when the unpredictable nature and methods of the attacks caused an interruption and a painfully long pause in the game.

In response to the initial attack, an official LCK update stated: "After negotiations with the team, LCK has decided to run game one until completion, even if the pauses continue. Meanwhile, T1 vs. FOX game two will be rescheduled to another date."

Despite the break and Riot boosting their security measures, the network attacks escalated, prompting Kang to announce that the remaining LCK matches of the week would be played privately, recorded, and broadcasted at a later date.

The incident on February 28 is not an isolated event; rather, it adds to a series of hacker attacks that have plagued the Korean League of Legends server for the past two months, as reported by Kang. The severity of these attacks has affected players' ability to train in solo queue, including prominent figure Lee "Faker" Sang-hyeok. Despite the persistent disruptions and growing concerns within the community, Riot's response has been notably absent, leaving fans disgruntled.

The lack of an official response from Riot Games, aside from the decision to hold private matches for the week, has only been boosting the discontent among fans. Riot now faces accusations of failing to implement proactive measures to prevent severe attacks during high-stakes LCK matches. The absence of an effective solution to counter the incoming attacks only deepens the frustration within the League of Legends community.

A Distributed Denial of Service, or DDoS is an illegal attack characterized by flooding a network with an overwhelming volume of requests, seeking to disrupt services by surpassing the network's capacity to reply to the sent requests. These attacks result in severe lag in online gaming, particularly in a competitive setting like the LCK, rendering normal League of Legends gameplay nearly impossible. The ongoing disruptions to the Korean League servers have raised questions about the security measures in place and Riot Games’ ability to address cyber threats effectively.

Fans eagerly await a resolution, but the impact of these attacks extends beyond the inconvenience to the competitive integrity of LCK matches. The disruption of high-profile esports events not only undermines the viewing experience for fans, but also raises concerns about esports organisations' ability to safeguard their competitions from malicious activities.

The severity and persistence of these attacks show the need for comprehensive security measures within the esports industry. While the severity of the attacks does not prevent the LCK from continuing, the League of Legends community is not happy with the damage it has done to the competition's entertainment factor. Hopefully, Riot Games can come up with a quick solution to keep the LCK going and protect the integrity of competitive gaming at the highest level.

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