14 DAY TRIAL // Nintendo has confirmed a security breach on one of its severs that was disclosed last week, however, it claims that no customer data was affected.
A group of hackers called LulzSec which has recently taken credit for several high-profile attacks, tweeted last week about a security issue on one of Nintendo's servers.
"We’re not targeting Nintendo. We like the N64 too much — we sincerely hope Nintendo plugs the gap," they wrote.
"Re: Nintendo, we just got a config file and made it clear that we didn't mean any harm. Nintendo had already fixed it anyway. <3 them!" the hackers added.
In light of the recent security breaches and data leaks involving the PlayStation Network (PSN) and other Sony websites, there were immediate fears that Nintendo customer data might have been exposed.
However, according Ken Toyoda, one of the company's spokespersons, that wasn't the case. The Tech Herald reports that Mr. Toyoda said there was some kind of hacking attack involving one of Nintendo US's servers, but there were no third-party victims.
The high number of data breaches reported this year, including those at Sony which so far affected over 100 million individuals, have made consumers wary about giving their personal information to companies.
Unfortunately, in many cases withholding this sensitive information is not an option if one wants to benefit from a certain service, but one thing is clear - companies are not doing enough to safeguard people's data.
U.S. lawmakers are working on federal laws that would require companies to guarantee minimum levels of data protection and also force them to report any data breaches. This kind of legislation is long overdue, even though some states already have local laws in this respect.