Nintendo Confirms Up to 160,000 Accounts Were Accessed in Recent Breach

Nintendo is taking measures to deal with a significant privacy breach, as up to 160,000 users' accounts were accessed in the recent attempt. As a result, the ability to use a Nintendo Network ID is being discontinued, among other steps taken to handle the issue.

This follows reports from earlier this week of Nintendo Switch owners having their accounts accessed, and even having digital items purchased through linked PayPal accounts. Nintendo responded at the time, saying it was aware of and investigating the situation.

In a post on the Nintendo support site, the company confirmed up to or about 160,000 accounts were accessed, with information like nickname, date of birth, and email address potentially uncovered by the breach. Nintendo has since released a statement saying there is "currently no evidence pointing towards a breach of Nintendo's databases, servers, or services."

However, accounts affected will be contacted soon about resetting their passwords, and Nintendo will be disabling the ability to use a Nintendo Network ID to sign in to a Nintendo account. Additionally, the company recommends users set up two-factor authentication if they have not already done so, and contact support if they suspect their account has been breached.

A significant number of Nintendo Switch units have been shipping due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, as the console has become a hot commodity for people staying indoors. Hopefully the vulnerability is easy enough to solve; Nintendo said that, to deter further attempts at unauthorized sign-ins, it would not reveal more information about the methods used to gain access. However, it is working to better safeguard user data in the future.