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Hackers Attack Nintendo, But Company Claims Data Safe

Posted by timothy on from the 15-minutes-of-fame dept.

Dr Herbert West writes with this from the Wall Street Journal: "Nintendo said Sunday that a server for its US unit's website had been hacked into but that no company or customer information was compromised. The hacker group Lulzsec, which allegedly was behind other breaches of Sony websites earlier this week, claimed responsibility. Lulzsec posted a server configuration file as proof of its involvement yet said it wasn't targeting Nintendo. 'We just got a config file and made it clear that we didn't mean any harm,' the group said this morning via its Twitter.' Nintendo had already fixed it anyway. The attack comes as Nintendo this week launches its new online service for its 3DS hand-held game machine."

15 of 159 comments (clear)

  1. Data is safe because... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The data is safe because they make you put in your CC info every time you make a purchase, instead of storing the data. This is something that people whine about and say Nintendo is being too cautious about every time they talk about the Wii Shop Channel. Still whining, trolls?

    Also, if LulzSec doesn't get taken out soon, I'm fucking gonna find one of them and shit on their head. This is getting ridiculous.

    1. Re:Data is safe because... by artor3 · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Attacking PBS is altruistic? Is Big Bird really that much of a dick?

    2. Re:Data is safe because... by node+3 · · Score: 5, Insightful

      This whole thread is so full of troll...

      "The data is safe because Nintendo doesn't provide the same level of service as Sony", is somehow turned into "the data is safe because Sony is a bad company and Nintendo is good".

      One of the really funny things about defending the way Nintendo does it is that if you buy a new console, you can't even redownload your purchases. With Sony, you just log in with your PSN ID, and download away! Isn't that usually the argument against online purchases? That you have to re-buy everything? Yet since Sony is the one doing it right, you guys find no trouble contorting yourself to make it look like it's the other way around.

      And this is clearly an attempt by LulzSec to make Nintendo look good and Sony look bad, by the very same double-standard. They say they didn't want to hurt Nintendo. But they clearly wanted to hurt Sony. So they tried to hurt Sony, but didn't try to hurt Nintendo, but the headline reads as though Nintendo was hacked, but their security kept customer data safe, when reality is that there was no customer data to steal, and LulzSec didn't seem interested in doing any damage other than to prove they were there.

      As a company, I like Nintendo much more than Sony, but I'm not going to let that get in the way of reality. In terms of online offerings and capabilities, Sony is way ahead of Nintendo. Spinning this as a good thing is just absurd.

    3. Re:Data is safe because... by trytoguess · · Score: 4, Interesting

      I saw the alleged "anti freedom propaganda." The worst thing you could say about that Frontline episode is that they asked hard questions, and didn't portray the people in the episode as automatic heroes. What propaganda was in that show exactly?

    4. Re:Data is safe because... by Darkness404 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      One of the really funny things about defending the way Nintendo does it is that if you buy a new console, you can't even redownload your purchases

      Call up Nintendo's tech support and you can transfer games if your other console breaks.

      When it comes to Nintendo's DS line, nearly all DSi games can be transfered to the 3DS, with the exception of 11 games that either are getting re-made to take advantage of the new hardware (flipnote studio), had security flaws (sodoku) or had complex licensing (oregon trail).

      And I have no doubt that when Project Cafe is released, the same thing will work with Wii Ware and Virtual Console titles.

      The difference isn't really a technical thing, but the way that Nintendo and Sony/Microsoft look at consoles. Nintendo views consoles as something where (except in rare cases where one breaks) you really only buy one until they release the new version.

      On the other hand, Sony/Microsoft view consoles as something to upgrade midway through the lifecycle (the new slim models of the PlayStation line, the new version of the Xbox). So it makes sense that Sony/MS makes it more straightforward to redownload things because they expect a large segment of their gamers to get the new console when it launches.

      --
      Taxation is legalized theft, no more, no less.
  2. The hackers made it off with by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    Over 1,000,000 gold coins and several thousand mushrooms.

    1. Re:The hackers made it off with by JockTroll · · Score: 4, Funny

      However, the data was in another castle.

      --
      Geeks are so full of shit that "beating the crap out of them" takes a whole new meaning.
  3. sure you did. by ubergamer1337 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    "We just got a config file and made it clear that we didn't mean any harm" - AKA they were unable to get to any meaty stuff, and now claim altruism rather than failure.

  4. The Nintendo castle is contantly being broken into by rishistar · · Score: 3, Funny

    ..by Bowser but Mario always gets the data back.

    --
    Professor Karmadillo Songs of Science
  5. Re:Poor web security five to ten years ago. by ZackSchil · · Score: 4, Informative

    That's their PR service for magazines and such. They keep it behind a password now, but it's still a bulk account that gets handed out, usually around E3. Sometimes the credentials leak and we get glimpses of press releases for unannounced games, embargoed stuff, full res artwork and everything.

  6. Their princess was in another castle. by Oxford_Comma_Lover · · Score: 5, Funny

    > I can't think of anything Nintendo has ever done to justify this.

    LulzSec was mad because their princess was in another castle.

    --
    -- IANAL, this isn't legal advice, and definitely isn't legal advice for you. Also, Squee!
    1. Re:Their princess was in another castle. by MagusSlurpy · · Score: 5, Interesting

      ... or because you can't backup licenses in Mario Kart Wii.

      FYI, you can copy your data to an SD card, and then just remove the card.

      --
      My sister opened a computer store in Hawaii. She sells C shells by the seashore.
  7. Still... by Nrrqshrr · · Score: 4, Interesting

    This is more humilating to Sony than to Nintendo.

    Nintendo will get away with it unharmed, they have actually proven that people's data is "secure".
    Sony on the other hand....

  8. Brick Nintendo? by jdb2 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I wonder if this has anything to do with the FSF's "Brick Nintendo" campaign. Perhaps the hacker in question was trying to further the FSF's efforts with regard to bringing attention to the super-draconian TOS of the 3DS, but in the wrong way of course. Since this is not "Anonymous" it makes me think that the answer to the former hypothesis is "no" and this is just another immature teenager up to stupid sh*t.

    Oh, BTW, have you bought and sent your bricks yet?

    jdb2

  9. Actually about Sony? by Daetrin · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I have to say, this is the first time the news of LulzSec hacking has actually made me mad. Everything else they've done could be argued to be altruistic, but this is just pointlessly lashing out at anyone they find. I can't think of anything Nintendo has ever done to justify this.

    Actually, i wonder if this was intended as a PR move intended to help Nintendo with the primary intent actually being to further damage Sony. Sony's been in the news for weeks for getting hacked multiple times and losing tons of data about customers. Now Nintendo gets hacked, but it's pretty minor and no customer data was compromised. Doesn't that make Sony look even worse in comparison?

    We've already got people in this very thread saying this means Nintendo's way of doing things is better Sony's. I'm not going to take sides on that issue, but if LulzSec's goal was to get people to criticize Sony in comparison to Nintendo then they seem to have succeeded.

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    This Space Intentionally Left Blank