The Pokémon Company Detects Hacking Attempts, Resets User Passwords
The Pokémon Company has confirmed that it detected hacking attempts against some of its users and took proactive measures by resetting those users’ account passwords. Last week, an alert was posted on Pokémon’s official support website, notifying users of the security breach.
According to a spokesperson for the company, there was no actual breach of the account system, but rather a series of hacking attempts targeting certain users. Daniel Benkwitt, the Pokémon Company spokesperson, stated, “The account system was not compromised. What we did experience and catch was an attempt to log in to some accounts. To protect our customers we have reset some passwords which prompted the message.”
It was reported that only 0.1% of the targeted accounts were actually compromised, and affected users were required to reset their passwords. The company has already taken steps to secure the impacted accounts.
The incident sheds light on the security risk of credential stuffing, where hackers use stolen usernames and passwords from other breaches to gain access to accounts on different platforms. This tactic was recently utilized in a breach involving genetic testing company 23andMe, where hackers accessed sensitive genetic data of millions of users.
In response to such threats, several companies, including 23andMe, have implemented mandatory two-factor authentication to enhance security. However, the Pokémon Company does not currently offer this option for its users.
Pokémon, a popular game franchise with millions of players worldwide, continues to investigate the hacking attempts and is striving to ensure the safety of its users’ accounts.
