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Blizzard notifies customers of security breach
The gaming company has reported unauthorized access to its Battle.net service
by Caitlin AdamsPublished: August 10, 2012 01:45 PM
Irvine-based online gaming giant Blizzard Entertainment yesterday informed its subscribers and players that the company had detected unauthorized access to secure customer information. The breach included information relating to the company’s Battle.net account service.
Blizzard’s Battle.net service is the company’s account management system, in which players can manage digital downloads, purchases and games across Blizzard’s three franchises, World of Warcraft, Diablo and StarCraft.
The company said that player Battle.net email addresses belonging to accounts in all the areas where Blizzard games are available had been accessed; the only region exempt from the breach was China, which has its player data stored on a separate server from those where the breach occurred.
Blizzard did not say how many accounts were compromised or the exact volume of information that was accessed.
In an open letter to players posted on Blizzard’s website, company CEO Mike Morhaime explains the nature of the breach and outlines the steps taken to mitigate the damage.
“Even when you are in the business of fun, not every week ends up being fun. This week, our security team found an unauthorized and illegal access into our internal network here at Blizzard. We quickly took steps to close off this access and began working with law enforcement and security experts to investigate what happened.”
In addition to email addresses, the company said that “cryptographically scrambled versions of passwords” had been collected from accounts on the North American servers, which includes player data for users in North America, Latin America, Australia, New Zealand and Southeast Asia. The North American server breach also included other information relating to player account security. However, the type and
Blizzard pointed out that at the current stage of the investigation, the company has not found that any credit card data or customer payment information has been accessed.
“We take the security of your personal information very seriously, and we are truly sorry that this has happened,” Morhaime said, addressing players.
Related headlines
Blizzard sets date for latest World of Warcraft expansion
Blizzard Entertainment releases much-anticipated Diablo III
Blizzard announces 4th World of Warcraft expansion
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Blizzard’s Battle.net service is the company’s account management system, in which players can manage digital downloads, purchases and games across Blizzard’s three franchises, World of Warcraft, Diablo and StarCraft. The company said that player Battle.net email addresses belonging to accounts in all the areas where Blizzard games are available had been accessed; the only region exempt from the breach was China, which has its player data stored on a separate server from those where the breach occurred. Blizzard did not say how many accounts were compromised or the exact volume of information that was accessed. In an open letter to players posted on Blizzard’s website, company CEO Mike Morhaime explains the nature of the breach and outlines the steps taken to mitigate the damage. “Even when you are in the business of fun, not every week ends up being fun. This week, our security team found an unauthorized and illegal access into our internal network here at Blizzard. We quickly took steps to close off this access and began working with law enforcement and security experts to investigate what happened.” In addition to email addresses, the company said that “cryptographically scrambled versions of passwords” had been collected from accounts on the North American servers, which includes player data for users in North America, Latin America, Australia, New Zealand and Southeast Asia. The North American server breach also included other information relating to player account security. However, the type and Blizzard pointed out that at the current stage of the investigation, the company has not found that any credit card data or customer payment information has been accessed. “We take the security of your personal information very seriously, and we are truly sorry that this has happened,” Morhaime said, addressing players. Related headlines Blizzard sets date for latest World of Warcraft expansion Blizzard Entertainment releases much-anticipated Diablo III Blizzard announces 4th World of Warcraft expansion |
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