BioWare hacked, EA information compromised

And the hacks continue. BioWare is informing users that hackers have "gained unauthorized access" and may have your personal information.

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And the hacks continue. Aaryn Flynn, Studio GM of BioWare Edmonton has sent out e-mails to registered users, informing them that "hackers gained unauthorized access to the decade-old BioWare server system supporting the Neverwinter Nights forums." Although Flynn assures users that "we immediately took appropriate steps to protect our consumers’ data and launched a thorough ongoing evaluation of the breach... information such as user names, encrypted passwords, email addresses, mailing addresses, names, phone numbers, CD keys and birth dates from these forum accounts on the system may have been compromised, as well as other information (if any) that you may have associated with your EA Account."

As is becoming standard practice, EA is recommending that you change your password, especially if "your username, email address and/or password on your EA account are similar to those you use on other sites." In the coming weeks, EA recommends "all of our fans to always be aware of any suspicious emails or account activity and report any suspicious emails and account activity to Customer Support at 1-877-357-6007."

If you haven't started building a bunker and deleting all your personal information off the internet yet, at least you can take solace that "no credit card data was compromised from the servers." And if you haven't received the e-mail, EA says "we have no reason to believe that your information was potentially affected."

Andrew Yoon was previously a games journalist creating content at Shacknews.

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From The Chatty
  • reply
    June 23, 2011 7:45 PM

    Andrew Yoon posted a new article, BioWare hacked, EA information compromised.

    And the hacks continue. BioWare is informing users that hackers have "gained unauthorized access" and may have your personal information.

    • reply
      June 23, 2011 7:48 PM

      Oh no, the Geth have unlocked Cerebrus' network :( DOOM

    • reply
      June 23, 2011 8:18 PM

      Huh. So is our EA account compromised only if we had a BioWare forum account?

    • reply
      June 23, 2011 8:21 PM

      "hackers gained unauthorized access to the decade-old BioWare server system supporting the Neverwinter Nights forums."

      • reply
        June 23, 2011 8:47 PM

        Right? I didn't even recall that I had a NWN forum account.

      • reply
        June 24, 2011 6:26 AM

        "Our investigation shows that information such as user names, encrypted passwords, email addresses, mailing addresses, names, phone numbers, CD keys and birth dates from these forum accounts on the system may have been compromised, as well as other information (if any) that you may have associated with your EA Account."

        I don't think it's just the NWN stuff :(

    • reply
      June 23, 2011 8:45 PM

      well i got the email and my password no longer works on any EA site or origin even

      • reply
        June 23, 2011 9:15 PM

        Same issue, wtf can't play BC 2 and the password reset isn't working

        • reply
          June 23, 2011 9:26 PM

          I had to do the password reset thing from within origin before I got any email reply. Now all is changed.

    • reply
      June 23, 2011 9:06 PM

      This is getting out of hand.

    • reply
      June 23, 2011 9:17 PM

      Can anyone log in to this now or is it down?: https://social.bioware.com/login.php?return_url=/user_home.php

      I can't login and now I'm getting concerned. :(

      I also tried the forgot password thing, but have yet to get the email they say it sends.

      • reply
        June 23, 2011 9:28 PM

        yeah i never got an email reply from the bioware social site or EA.com sites but i did get one finally from within origin program, if you have that. or it was just dumb luck that that one worked.

    • reply
      June 23, 2011 9:21 PM

      [deleted]

      • reply
        June 23, 2011 9:25 PM

        [deleted]

        • reply
          June 23, 2011 9:28 PM

          I seem to remember this being mentioned before even the 18k accounts number but didn't get an email from EA till today which made me change my info.

    • reply
      June 23, 2011 9:26 PM

      Hack the world!

    • reply
      June 23, 2011 9:59 PM

      So assuming I didn't get an email by now, is it safe to say I'm good to go?

      • reply
        June 23, 2011 11:34 PM

        I was just about to post saying I haven't received squat, yet can't log in to anything or recover my password, but an email from Bioware just landed in my junk (lol...) box. Yay, hopefully.

        • reply
          June 24, 2011 12:18 AM

          I just logged into Origin still no email from anyone EA/Bioware in any box. I did seem to be cheated out of some inheritance from my long lost uncle in Kenya, and it's like a mafia situation so I need to help some guy get my money to me. I should look into this.

    • reply
      June 24, 2011 12:24 AM

      I got an email regarding this but it was referenced to anybody with a neverwinter nights account.

      • reply
        June 24, 2011 12:26 AM

        We recently learned that hackers gained unauthorized access to the decade-old BioWare server system supporting the Neverwinter Nights forums. We immediately took appropriate steps to protect our consumers’ data and launched a thorough ongoing evaluation of the breach. We have determined that no credit card data was compromised from the servers, nor did we ever have or store sensitive data like social security numbers. Our investigation shows that information such as user names, encrypted passwords, email addresses, mailing addresses, names, phone numbers, CD keys and birth dates from these forum accounts on the system may have been compromised, as well as other information (if any) that you may have associated with your EA Account. In an abundance of caution, we have changed your password to ensure account security.

    • reply
      June 24, 2011 12:49 AM

      I don't recall ever making an account anywhere with Bioware in charge but I got an email. Are the Chinese after me?

      • reply
        June 24, 2011 3:15 AM

        Same, not sure why I got it.

      • reply
        June 24, 2011 3:18 AM

        I'm wondering the same. Chris Priestly banned my account like 5 years ago, but I still got an email. I'm moving that email in the phishing bin.

    • reply
      June 24, 2011 5:26 AM

      Ok this is getting really fucking ridiculous, why aren't other game company taking a fucking clue and re-evaluating their network security? Seriously getting old.

    • reply
      June 24, 2011 5:36 AM

      I don't have any idea what password I used back in the dim prehistory of NWN.

      • reply
        June 24, 2011 5:55 AM

        Me either but the e-mail I got said it was the EA account I have, as well...Does that effect all EA accounts? Because, I do have the DA:O and ME2 accounts :(

    • reply
      June 24, 2011 6:28 AM

      Yeah I got one of these emails.

      Seriously, I'm so tired of all the script kiddies now. Need to start throwing some of these tards in rape-me-in-the-ass prison.

    • reply
      June 24, 2011 6:33 AM

      [deleted]

    • reply
      June 24, 2011 6:58 AM

      Man. I think we are approaching the moment when you will need a token or 2-step for every fucking thing on the internet. And these things can be hacked too anyway.
      If they hack Steam I say we all gather money and hire Russian Mafia to track and kill those assholes.

      • reply
        June 24, 2011 7:19 AM

        Agreed. We should start gathering names and numbers for ex KGB just in case.

      • reply
        June 24, 2011 7:31 AM

        It probably IS the Russian mafia hacking a lot of this stuff

    • reply
      June 24, 2011 7:21 AM

      Got my email. FUCK YOU VERY MUCH!

    • reply
      June 24, 2011 9:24 AM

      Got my email late last night. You'd think companies like Sony and EA would take online security much more seriously. But then again, that would probably cut too much into their profits. Greedy bastards.

      I'm suddenly inspired to change my career focus from network design/support to information security.

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