Nintendo admits account breaches of 160k users via NNID

Nintendo, a video game company in Japan, has recently admitted that nearly 160,000 accounts have been hacked and is notifying the affected users. The hackers have reportedly acquired the login IDs & passwords. The company is disabling the gateway into the Nintendo Account through an NNID (Nintendo Network ID), which was accessed by the hackers.

The company has reportedly stated that the hackers have obtained the IDs and password information illegally by using other means than its service. This phenomenon appears to have been caused by hackers impersonating the login to NNID from around the start of April. It confirmed this illegal login to a few of its accounts via NNID by using the impersonation login, which leads to the removal of the logging gateway into its accounts via NNID.

In addition to these control measures, the company will help reset the passwords sequentially for Nintendo accounts and NNIDs that may have illegally been logged into. It will also reportedly notify those affected users via e-mail.

Nintendo has suggested that users remain cautious by resetting the password and avoid using the same password that the users have already saved for other services. In case the users have logged into the Nintendo account via NNID, the company has advised them to log in by using the Nintendo account login ID/email address post the next login. The balance and registered PayPal/credit card could be used illegally at Nintendo eShop or My Nintendo Store if the same password is used for the Nintendo account and NNID.

Therefore, users are also requested to use different passwords for the Nintendo account and NNID. Additionally, they can conduct an individual investigation in case of any purchase history showing in their accounts and cancel the purchase. The 3rd best-selling home console of the company is Nintendo Switch, which overtakes the old SNES (Super Nintendo Entertainment System). Following the launch of the device in 2017, nearly 52 million Switch consoles were sold in total.

Source credit:

https://www.crn.in/security/1-6-lakh-user-accounts-hacked-admits-nintendo/