Nintendo and Epic warn of hack attacks

Threat

Two more games companies have been hit by hackers, following notable strikes on Sony, Square Enix and Codemasters.

Nintendo and Epic have both warned about different threats on their websites. The former is still warning visitors to its European website about a potential phishing threat.

"We have learnt of a possible phishing threat to users of the European Nintendo website which we are currently investigating," a notice on the company website read.

"The protection of our customers is our utmost priority and so we have taken the precaution of immediately shutting down some parts of this website until further notice. We would like to reassure you that we do not hold our customer's bank, credit card or address details on the European Nintendo website and so this data is not at risk."

Nintendo was the target of another cyber attack recently, when hacking collective LulzSec was suspected of hitting the games giant.

Epic, which is well known for its Gears of War series, said it was likely hackers acquired email addresses and encrypted passwords of forum users on its website.

"Plain text passwords weren't revealed, but short or common passwords could be obtained by brute-force attack. Therefore, we're resetting all passwords," said Epic chief executive (CEO) Tim Sweeney, in a forum post.

"The Unreal Developer Network (UDN) has not been compromised. None of our web sites ask for, or store, credit card information or other sensitive customer data. We're sorry for the inconvenience, and appreciate everyone's patience as we get our servers back under control."

Read on for our look at why games companies are being hit hard.

Tom Brewster

Tom Brewster is currently an associate editor at Forbes and an award-winning journalist who covers cyber security, surveillance, and privacy. Starting his career at ITPro as a staff writer and working up to a senior staff writer role, Tom has been covering the tech industry for more than ten years and is considered one of the leading journalists in his specialism.

He is a proud alum of the University of Sheffield where he secured an undergraduate degree in English Literature before undertaking a certification from General Assembly in web development.