Jared N. Games 06.09.2020 07:Jun AM EDT

Nintendo Says There Were More Accounts Compromised Than Previously Reported: How To Protect Yours From Data Breach

An updated statement that Nintendo issued on its official customer support page a few hours ago as of the writing of this article. The statement warned its users that April's data breach was significantly worse than they reported initially. More accounts were compromised on top of the initial count of 160,000 accounts.

Wait, Is This Another Data Breach At Nintendo?

A few months ago in April, you might remember that Nintendo reported that over 160,000 Nintendo accounts that used a Nintendo Network ID as its log-in method might have been logged in by an unauthorized third-party.

Nintendo warned that the personal info of the owners of the compromised accounts was viewed by whoever intruded into the accounts. The credit card information of these accounts are safe, and no one has accessed it.

There are some reports from users that say that their Nintendo accounts were used to purchase microtransactions, like the in-game currency of Fortnite known as V-Bucks.

In a statement released by Nintendo today, they stated that they investigated deeper into the April data breach. They discovered that there were around 140,000 more Nintendo accounts on top of the initial report's count that have been accessed by a third-party. The owners of these Nintendo accounts were contacted and had their passwords reset by Nintendo.

Even if the numbers reported are alarmingly high, Nintendo says that less than 1% of every Nintendo account around the world has been affected by this breach, and they are currently processing refunds.

How To Protect Your Nintendo Account From A Data Breach

A recommendation from Nintendo on how to secure your Nintendo account is to enable two-step verification. Here is how you can turn it on for your account.

First, go to the Nintendo Account website and log into your account. Go into the Sign-in and security settings, then find 2-Step Verification. When you find it, select Edit, and then click 2-Step Verification settings.

Once you're in the 2-Step Verification settings, click on Send Email. A verification code will be sent to the email address attached to the account. Insert the verification code you received in your email, then hit Submit.

On your Android or iOS smartphone, install the Google Authenticator app. It's a free app, so don't worry about having to pay for it. Use the Google Authenticator app to scan the QR code that the Nintendo Account page displays.

After a while, a 6-digit-long verification code will show up on your smartphone. Put the verification code down in the empty field at Step 3 on the Nintendo Account page then click Submit.

Once you're done with that, you will be given backup codes. You need to keep these backup codes somewhere safe. Ensure that you don't lose any of these codes.

If you can't use the Google Authenticator app for any reason, it will ask for a backup code. So you have to keep the backup codes somewhere private and safe.

When you've saved your two backup codes somewhere safe, press I have saved the two backup codes, then click OK.

That's all there is to it. You can go to the settings to review the two backup codes or deactivate and remove the 2-step authentication