Nintendo apologises for breach that revealed the personal information of 160,000 accounts

Approximately 160,000 Nintendo accounts were hacked in a recent security breach, leading to unauthorised access to users’ credit cards and PayPal accounts (via MCV/Develop).

Since the start of this month, Nintendo users were reporting missing funds from their accounts, and even describing unauthorised transactions that had bought in-game currency within Fortnite. Along with access to payment services, the hackers were able to view nicknames, email addresses, date of birth, gender and country data. Nintendo has responded to the breach, and urges users to change their passwords and implement two-factor authentication for another wall of defence.

“During the investigation, in order to deter further attempts of unauthorised sign-ins, we will not reveal more information about the methods employed to gain unauthorised access,” said Nintendo in a statement. “We apologise for the inconvenience and concerns caused to our customers, and we will continue working hard to safeguard the security of our users’ data.”

The affected Nintendo Network IDs are no longer usable by their original users, and passwords on accounts that may have been affected have been reset by Nintendo. “We are aware of reports of unauthorized access to some Nintendo Accounts and we are investigating the situation,” said the company to VGC. “In the meantime, we recommend that users enable two-step verification for their Nintendo Account as instructed here. If any users become aware of unauthorized activity, we encourage them to take the steps outlined at https://www.nintendo.co.uk/Support/Nintendo-Account/Nintendo-Account-Recovery-Process-1658054.html or visit https://support.nintendo.com for general support.”