Nintendo has confirmed that around 160,000 Nintendo Accounts were accessed in the recent hacking attempts. Hackers had access to private information.
https://twitter.com/Nibellion/status/1253636588090929154
For the past week, Nintendo players online were reporting hackers compromising their accounts and purchasing in-game funds. For example, players said their accounts were used to purchase hundreds of dollars of V-Bucks in Fortnite.
While Nintendo has confirmed the number of accounts accessed by hackers, they have said that the investigation is still ongoing to understand what went wrong.
An investigation is still ongoing, so it is not clear what information hackers had access to. However, there is a possibility they did have access to private data including birthdays, names, and countries.
As a result, Nintendo has decided to deactivate the ability to sign in to a Nintendo Account using a Nintendo Network ID. They also encourage all users to enable two-factor authentication to protect your account.
Nintendo will reach out to users who were affected by the recent hacking. They will have those users reset their passwords.
Ways to Protect Your Nintendo Account
To protect your account, it is probably for the best to change your password and enable two-factor authentication. You can also check your Nintendo Accounts login page to see all logins within the last 30 days.
Until the investigation is complete, there could be a chance of more hacking attempts soon. Removing any payment information, including credit cards or Paypal, is best for now until Nintendo confirms a resolution to the situation.
Even though a solution is still in the works, the best thing to do is to take action by securing your account. Enabling extra security steps is a hassle, but keeps you safe in the long-run.
To learn more about the recent hacking of Nintendo Accounts and Nintendo’s efforts to resolve the issue, go to Nintendo’s Customer Support page.