14 DAY TRIAL // Game developer Bethesda Softworks advises users to change their passwords after its forum's database was compromised by hackers.
"We have identified a potential breach of our forum user database that occurred Friday morning, Aug 12. We have reset your forum password as a precaution, in the event that any encrypted forum user passwords were compromised," the company wrote in an email sent to users.
"When you next try to login to the forums, your old password will not work. Click the 'I've forgotten my password link' underneath the login boxes, and follow the steps to setup a new password for your account," it added.
A subsidiary of ZeniMax Media, Bethesda Softworks is a widely acclaimed game developer, being responsible for hugely popular series like The Elder Scrolls or Fallout.
The company advises users to also change their passwords on all other websites where they might have used them.
Even though it claims the passwords were stored in encrypted form, the algorithm used might not have been the strongest.
Considering the high rate of password reuse on the Internet and people's tendency towards using weak access codes, this advice is highly valuable.
A gaming forum account might not mean much to some people, but if the same passwords give attackers access to their email or PayPal accounts, the impact can be much higher.
Bethesda did not disclose the method of compromise, but given that hackers obtained access to the forum database, SQL injection is a strong candidate.
This data breach incident comes after in June notorious hacking outfit LulzSec broke into the company's network, stole user data and published it online. The group claimed at the time to withhold the personal details of over 200,000 BRINK players.