Data of 65,000 Koei Tecmo forum users has been stolen in data breach

The Japanese Koei Tecmo has been hit by a data breach. Among other things, a forum database was stolen, which contains data of approximately 65,000 users. The company has since taken its European and American websites offline.

A hacker claimed to have hacked Koei Tecmo’s European website on December 20, Bleeping Computer writes . The hacker would have achieved this by sending targeted phishing emails to employees. Among other things, a forum database with 65,000 users was stolen as part of the attack. Stolen information includes email addresses, IP addresses, usernames, birthdays and hashed passwords with salt. The data breach would be limited to the forum and no financial data of users would have been looted.

Bleeping Computer writes that the hacker tried to sell the database for 0.05 bitcoin on a hacker forum. Converted, this amounts to about 1100 euros. The culprit would also sell shell access to the website for 0.25 bitcoin, which is worth around $ 5,500 at the time of writing. On December 23, the hacker would have made the forum database available for free on the forum, says Bleeping Computer, which has viewed part of the database.

In response, Koei Tecmo has taken its European and American websites offline. The company writes on the websites to investigate the situation. “Due to a possible external cyber attack, this website has been temporarily closed while we investigate the matter.” In the meantime, the company has also published an advisory , stating that the British part of its website has been hit by a cyber attack. Koei Tecmo reports that no claims or threats have been sent to the company that could indicate a ransomware infection.

Koei Tecmo was created in 2009 after a merger of Tecmo and Koei. The company consists of several units, including Koei Tecmo Games. That studio is known for game franchises such as Nioh, Dynasty Warriors, Hyrule Warriors and Dead or Alive. Earlier this year, the developer released Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity in partnership with Nintendo.