DAILY NEWS: Hackers access 25,000 customers' details from video game developer

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Square Enix, makers of the Tomb Raider series, admits the CVs of 350 job applicants may also have been downloaded

Hackers have broken into the vaults of the Japanese video games developer, Square Enix, accessing the details of 25,000 customers in the second major data breach to hit the gaming world in recent weeks.

The software house, which is behind some of the world's most successful computer game franchises, including Final Fantasy, Deus Ex and the Tomb Raider series, said the intruders could have stolen customer email addresses after cracking security on two of its websites.

It said no credit card details were exposed, but admitted the CVs of 350 people applying for jobs in its Canadian offices could also have been downloaded.

"Square Enix can confirm a group of hackers gained access to parts of our Eidosmontreal.com website as well as two of our product sites," the company said in a statement.

"We immediately took the sites offline to assess how this had happened and what had been accessed, then took further measures to increase the security of these and all of our websites, before allowing the sites to go live again."

Square Enix's admission follows last month's revelation that an attack on Sony's gaming networks caused the loss of personal data held in tens of millions of online accounts.

Sony has apologised for the security failures that saw hackers break into its PlayStation Network and Sony Online Entertainment networks, accessing the credit card accounts of more than 100 million customers.

The haul of data stolen in the Sony attacks, believed to be the biggest security breach in the history of the internet, could cost in excess of £1bn.

Square Enix stressed that information stolen from its servers was limited to contact details. "These email addresses are not linked to any additional personal information," it said. "They were site registration email addresses provided to us for users to receive product information updates."

Barry Neild

guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2011 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

Denis Campbell 14 May, 2011

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Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2011/may/13/hackers-details-video-game-developer
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