Nintendo has issued an updated statement to its official customer support website today, warning users that April's data breach may have impacted considerably more accounts than initially reported.
You may remember that back in April, Nintendo confirmed that around 160,000 user accounts which used a Nintendo Network ID to log in may have been affected by unauthorised logins. It was warned that these users' personal info may have been viewed by a third party, though credit card information remained safe. A number of users did report that their accounts were used to buy in-game items in titles such as Fortnite, however.
In today's updated statement, Nintendo notes that further investigation into the data breach has revealed that there were "approximately 140,000 additional NNIDs that may have been accessed maliciously", on top of the original 160,000. Passwords for these NNIDs have been reset and those account holders have been contacted.
Despite the alarming numbers in Nintendo's statement, the company notes that less than 1% of all NNIDs globally have been impacted, and any necessary refunds are being processed.
Nintendo recommends that users enable two-step verification for their Nintendo Account as instructed here.
[source nintendo.co.jp, via nintendoeverything.com]
Comments (51)
That's why you have 2FA. Doesn't matter how much you trust a company, better to be safe than sorry.
Now i want to know if there is a link between the hacks and if the people hacked were Fortnite players.
As I don't play it and I wasn't hacked, if there is...that just another reason for my dislike of the game
All those users are now squirming that their playtime on Senran Kagura Reflexions might get uploaded for all to see...
Nintendo have messed this up royally and their customer service here is not particularly great.
When the Sony PS3 hack occurred. People got a free couple of games as an apology (and online was free back then)
Nintendo are sweeping this under the rug... Where's the free online membership extensions as an apology to those affected? Simply offering refunds isn't really good enough in my view....
@pip_muzz this hasn’t something to do with online, but with user accounts.
Darn you Fortnite.
I was hacked right after I got fired because of COVID. 200 USD from my Paypal was spent by some guy in Chile to buy Vbucks. Epic Games and Paypal said it's not heir business to help. Nintendo support haven't replied in a month. Bank can "return" money if I start a case about being robbed. I don't even know if I will ever see my money.
@sikthvash
I have no qualms about my time with Reflexions or anybody knowing I played said game along with Peach Ball. They are games get over it.
This is really one of the best reasons I love physical releases and hate online shopping. I only use eshop cards so they can only access very little in the worst case scenario.
@pip_muzz TBF, the Sony hack leaked names, addresses and bank details for the individuals, whereas this is NNIDs and passwords. Both are bad, but the Sony one was a whole other level.
@GameOtaku I knoooooow, it was only a joke & not meant to be disrespectful to you or other players of these or similar related games. I have the other Senran Kagura releases on 3DS / PS4 & I'm not ashamed.
Let's just be clear who the bad guys are. It's the hackers. While an argument can always be made that a company should be more prepared than they were, in the end, it was the hackers who maliciously broken into the system and stole this information.
It's really a shame. They are likely very talented people who could probably make a more honest living doing something other than crime.
@Bunkerneath IIRC some of the related reports I've come across expressed specific battlement at the recorded transactions because they had never played Fortnite until then. But I'm falling back on a rather vague memory here.
@sikthvash implying there's a significant overlap between those who buy Senran Kagura games and those remotely ashamed to disclose they play Senran Kagura games. Playtime records are visible on Switch to everyone friendlisted regardless, and mine have sported the recently grabbed Agony and Metropolis since yesterday, for instance - so did I miss my cue to panic?😆
@FuseBlues That's true. The Sony one was definitely worse.
I still would like to see Nintendo take a more proactive approach in turning the situation around still.
I certainly have spent less on the eshop as a result of all this news and bought more games on Xbox.
Consumer confidence is a big thing
@nhSnork I know, twas only a silly attempt at being funny, & I know playtime records are visible to to friends / potential friends (to a point as I think some of them dispappear from the list if it spills over a certain amount?) Anyway, shame on you for buying Agony =0p I thought Metropolis was supposed to be fairly good, but perhaps censored on Switch?
@Bunkerneath That's an odd response. You don't like a game... so you want it to be responsible for an email address leak?
EShop cards for life.
@sikthvash I've even had Agony on Steam prior, padre. No idea how censored Metropolis is, but it's still a match-3 with a plot (I mean a literal one, stop snickering!😜) and RPG elements, and I tend to be a sucker for those... I said stop snickering!
So 300,000? Sounds like a lot. It doesn't say that anywhere in the article, but every time I ask a question the reply tends to be "that's what Nintendo said" so I'll just go ahead and assume Nintendo never said 300,00 b/c they realize that looks like a big number.
@nhSnork I think we're all guilty of picking up some unrealised garbage over the years, especially ones that promise a lot and turn out to be style over substance.
Whatever do you mean?! HuniePop had an amazing plot =0p
Yeah because the Switch is about as secure as a wet paper bag.
The entire system has been cracked open, even their software. Totally compromised and Nintendo are completely powerless against it.
All they can do is ignore it.
But hackers have completely broken open the entire infrastructure from top to bottom for the Switch.
Which includes the security for your actual account too. Which like I said, the Switch is about as secure as a wet paper bag.
There's video's of young kids learning to be hackers and using a Switch to learn on, because it's that easy.
Looks nintendo dont is understanding something about players and thinking this is another thing
While the hackers are at fault ìn the first place and should be persecuted...people shouldn't link bank accounts to foreign services like paypal and credit card companies.
Use prepaid always. That's your responsibility as consumers. Peace.
Sooooo... Gem Apple pack for Super Kirby Clash when exactly?
@Heavyarms55
I can only thank goodness I still have my parents. There are people who have explored other options. I'm not defending criminal behaviour, mind you, but then again I doubt every criminal ended up being one by choice.
This is why I never save my credit card information and always enter it manually every time I want to purchase from the eShop.
Annoying that their 2fa requires a mobile app instead of just having a code sent to your email/phone number.
Honestly more worried that the phone would break and giving me a hard time resetting this then someone figuring out my password.. Using a password manager (keepass2) so it's long and random, and not used anywhere else.
@sikthvash I think I got HuniePop on GOG some time ago, too, but haven't got around to it yet. But on Switch I have Kotodama now... yeah, last Friday's sale spree was one of culture.
As for "unrealized garbage", I've got plenty of titles with this label that I've got legitimate enjoyment out of over the years, so I don't heed other people's feedback on games (and I had heard plenty of it on Agony even before I had the PC version). But all of the game's traps and rollbacks certainly made it all the more viable on Switch as compared to laptop sessions.
@Bunkerneath stop circle jerking dude
@mesome713 stop circlejerking
@AlexSora89 Of course not. There are criminals of circumstance and people forced into doing things too. But from what I know, people like that aren't the majority.
Not that I have numbers to support that. It's just hearsay.
It’s still shocking that these big tech companies gets hacked.
@nhSnork Aye, it's all down to personal preference & your own experience - I have played many games that were critically challenged, but were really good fun & vice versa.
How is Kotodama? Was it as bad as Steam / Nintendolife made out? I thought it might worth a punt at £0.79 heh
Just make the online service free, at least people wouldn’t need to register a credit card in there if you can’t even protect their data. I have never subscribed to this crappy service and never saved any info so I’m ok but not even acknowledging you messed up and not offering some kind of gesture of good will to those affected is really low even by nowadays standards.
@sikthvash I've yet to try it - even with the whole aforementioned sales basket downloaded, I'm still focusing on the juggernaut time eaters like the Xenoblades, Warframe and Bioshock, taking bites off the new games here and there. I haven't even launched the most promising stuff of this bunch (like Mable, Cat Quest and Mulaka). But I've had Kotodama on my radar since its release and fully expect to come out entertained once I get down to it. In the overall sense - like I said above, I like it when match-3 games get fused with other genres and adopt their casts and narratives on top. Blame Puzzle Quest back on DS (no, haven't got its Switch incarnation yet, but most definitely will).
@PizzaCat Can you get them digitally though?
@okimoki No, I have to go to a store and get them. It's not that much of a hassle. Plus having characters on the cards are a nice touch. Better than a plain PSN card
@nhSnork I bought Agony as well. It's not the greatest port but I'm still enjoying it and the novelty of playing it on a Ninty platform.
@Sinton nintendo was not hacked. They are misunderstanding the information they are getting of their systems. And is not like the players will tell they why it is happening. (Is not piracy, dont worry )
And this is why I won't pay for Nintendo online service. Until they get their **** in gear and stop these hackers from accessing people's information they won't see a dime from me.
I love how they suggest use a two step verification process. It shouldn't have to be up the consumer to make sure their stuff is safe it up to Nintendo to make sure their online infrastructure is secure.
That would be like if my car was stolen and I was told well you should have had two alarms on it.
Why would I make it more inconvenient for me to access my account??
I remember when this same sh*t happened on the Wii... SAID NO ONE EVER
This is why you shouldn't save your credit cards on the Switch, or any console, because of hacks like this. (Unless it's a credit gift card, that is.)
@pip_muzz Sony's hack affected more or less the entirety of their entire customer base, and not just Playstation but their music and video services, small as they were at the time, as well. Sony's hack also compromised all customer's stored credit card data and required hundreds of millions of credit cards to need reissuing from banks at tremendous cost to customers and/or unrelated institutions. Nintendo's is, in their own words 1% with no CC data compromised. Assuming that's true, the scale of the issue and the "we're sorry we messed up your mortgage payment and annihilated your credit score, here's a copy of Uncharted 1 to make it better, still friends rite?" factor doesn't apply here.
@pip_muzz @Razer @Tasuki
You guys seem to be making a lot of assumptions about how these "hacks" happen. Yes, if you store your credit card information on your account, and you set your password to "password", and your account credentials have been leaked in a previous hack, then you might have got bitten by this.
Nintendo adding 2FA is a way to encourage users to get their asses in gear; not the other way around. The same logic and practices apply to every other credential you use on the internet.
https://www.techrepublic.com/article/nintendo-data-breach-reportedly-caused-by-credential-stuffing/
@GameOtaku Same here. I prefer Physical unless itdigital only and I really want to play and it's on sale, I'll use eshop card. Same goes for Steam. I stop buying since they insist on the new rules about putting personal info to even buy games using wallet funds ( I know it's rules since the beginning but it wasn't strict back then, and I have never needed to put info since I joined. ) I don't even care those Steam fanboys argument about my info already out there if I shop online. ( game site is game site, Shopping is Shopping. Shopping I can claim easy. Game site tends to push responsibility. )
@forestlark I hope your bank will work with you as my bank did. I had my bank account hacked to send some guy periodically through Venmo. My bank refunded me all the money even though they couldn't and wouldn't verify if it was just me scamming the bank. I'm thankful to my bank ofc, and I'm still a loyal customer.
There is a discrepancy:
"Despite the alarming numbers in Nintendo's statement, the company notes that less than 1% of all NNIDs globally have been impacted, and any necessary refunds are being processed."
That's different from what nintendoeverything wrote:
"That brings the overall total to 300,000, though the company says that less than 1 percent of these led to fraudulent purchases."
Yeah in comparison I think the Sony leak was a lot worse than this, Though they are both very bad
@Bunkerneath so many fortnite players are hackers and scammers tbh. Not all but a good fraction of them are or are scam-curious
@Bunkerneath wat im hearing fornite is where the source of the hacking is from.
@Nintendan_91 psn hack had over 77 million people info compromised.
Nintendos 2 step is terrible which is why I don't use it. They should simply send my phone a text message code for verification like almost every other company does.
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