Email addresses, secret question answers and authenticator info compromised.
Online security is increasingly something players need to take into their own hands.
Blizzard’s Mike Morhaime has confirmed in an open letter to the community that Battle.net has been hacked, compromising player email addresses, mobile and dial authenticator information and secret answers.
“At this time, we’ve found no evidence that financial information such as credit cards, billing addresses, or real names were compromised. Our investigation is ongoing, but so far nothing suggests that these pieces of information have been accessed,” states the lengthy post which can be read in full here.
“Some data was illegally accessed, including a list of email addresses for global Battle.net users, outside of China. For players on North American servers (which generally includes players from North America, Latin America, Australia, New Zealand, and Southeast Asia) the answer to the personal security question, and information relating to Mobile and Dial-In Authenticators were also accessed. Based on what we currently know, this information alone is NOT enough for anyone to gain access to Battle.net accounts.”
Well that makes us feel a little bit better and it’s worth noting that no password details were obtained thanks to Blizzard utilising “Secure Remote Password protocol” in order to make deciphering their hash data difficult. However that didn’t stop the mega publisher recommending that players on North American servers change their Battle.net password immediately.
“In the coming days, we’ll be prompting players on North American servers to change their secret questions and answers through an automated process. Additionally, we’ll prompt mobile authenticator users to update their authenticator software. As a reminder, phishing emails will ask you for password or login information. Blizzard Entertainment emails will never ask for your password,” he added.
Blizzard aren’t the first games company to be hacked by nefarious elements and we’re sure they won’t be the last.
Online security is a rapidly evoling field and a lot of the time it’s extremely difficult for big companies to keep your data safe, so it’s worth noting that good online practices include changing passwords regularly and never sharing any information regarding account details, passwords or credit card details over email.
Safety first people!
Tags: Battle.net, Blizzard
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