Japanese video game company and consumer electronics company Nintendo has just made a new announcement. As part of the announcement, the company confirmed that multiple accounts were affected during recent hacking attempts. The company confirmed that about 160,000 accounts suffered from the hack. Hackers were able to gain access to the login IDs and passwords through a third party this month. Nintendo states that hackers logged into these accounts without any authorization. The company shared some more details regarding the hacking attempts in the statement. Let’s dig in the official statement to find more about the hack.
Nintendo confirms unauthorized access to user accounts; details
According to the official statement available on the Nintendo Japan website, the issue first surfaced at the beginning of April. Nintendo indicates that hackers may have accessed the nicknames, country, date of birth, and email addresses of the affected accounts. Taking a closer look, hackers were able to login to the accounts through the Nintendo Network ID (NNID). The company reaffirmed that the hackers got the ID and passwords “illegally by some means other” than their service. It also revealed that users will no longer be able to login to the Nintendo Account through NNID. Hackers were also able to make “fraudulent purchases” on some accounts.
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The company has reset the passwords for all the affected accounts. Nintendo also confirmed that it used the NNID system to log in on 3DS, and Wii U devices. The latest Switch series uses a new Nintendo Account system to log in. Users were able to link the older NNID accounts with the new system “until today”.
As part of the announcement, the company has already warned affected users through e-mail. The e-mail asks users to reset their password and not use a similar password on any other service. Users should also ensure that they are not using similar passwords for NNID or their new accounts. Else, hackers could use their Nintendo balance or registered credit card or PayPal on My Nintendo Store or the e-Shop. The company also apologized to its customers and stakeholders as part of the statement.
