Nintendo says 300,000 accounts were affected by security issue

Back in April, a number of Nintendo account security breaches were reported by users, with 160,000 people estimated to have been affected at the time. Since then, more digging around the situation has taken place, with Nintendo believing that around 300,000 users were actually affected. 

In an update to the Nintendo Japan support website, the company has recently reset the Nintendo Network ID (NNID) and Nintendo account passwords for all 300,000 users, who will get an email informing them so they can set up new login details and turn on 2FA.

Nintendo had previously disabled the ability to log into a Nintendo account using an NNID because of the large number of unauthorised access reports. It is not known how the breach was caused, or how the issue went undetected for as long as it did.

The NNID system is a legacy log-in that Nintendo used in the 3DS and Wii U days. With the launch of the Nintendo Switch and Switch Online services, Nintendo improved its digital efforts with a proper Nintendo Account system.

Anyone affected by the NNID breach will have had private information obtained by third-parties, including emails, date of birth, gender and country/region. Those who could log in via NNID could make purchases via a linked Paypal account, but specific Credit/Debit card information was not obtained.

Of course, if you didn't do so when reports of a security breach first popped up earlier this year, you should go into your Nintendo Account settings now and set up two-factor authentication to avoid unauthorised logins on your account.

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KitGuru Says: We still don't know the exact details around how so many Nintendo login details were harvested, but the investigation does seem to be making progress, with 300,000 accounts confirmed to be impacted. Have any of you experienced odd Nintendo account activity in recent months? 

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