© IE Online Media Services Pvt Ltd
Tags:
Journalism of Courage
The company behind the Pokémon video game has confirmed that it suffered a data breach in August this year. Game Freak said its servers were hacked after the purportedly stolen data surfaced online a few days ago.
Over 2,606 names and email addresses of both current and former Game Freak employees as well as contract partners were part of the stolen data, according to a report by BBC. It is still unclear if any user data was also leaked in the hack.
Game Freak did not confirm if the leaked data included concept art, development documents, files from early Pokémon games, and upcoming projects.
“The leak of 1TB of data is hugely significant not just due to its size but also because it includes highly sensitive information including source code and employee details. This makes the breach far more damaging as it exposes both intellectual property and personal data which has the potential of leading to longer term security risks,” Jake Moore, global cybersecurity advisor, ESET, said.
“The clean-up operation is already 2 months behind due to only having located the breach now so it will be vital that Game Freak understand as much about the attack as possible and work with those whose data has been affected,” he added.
“We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience and concern caused to all involved,” the video game maker reportedly said, adding that it will be informing all those affected about the data breach while strengthening its security measures.
Game Freak developed the Pokémon video game exclusively for Nintendo back in 1996. It continues to work on the popular franchise with Nintendo and the Pokémon Company, with Pokémon now being one of the most valuable media properties in the world. Currently, the company is developing Pokémon Legends: Z-A which is scheduled to be launched next year.
