Hacked Toy Firm VTech Restores Some Online Functions

Children’s toy manufacturer VTech, which was hacked in November 2015, has restored some “key functions” of its Learning Lodge gateway.

About 6.4 million children’s details were exposed in the Hong Kong-based firm’s data breach.

Sorry

The data was collected via the Learning Lodge website, where parents must register in order to use many of VTech’s toys and e-books.

Through a statement on its website, VTech said it was “very sorry for the cyber attack” and the subsequent closure of its Learning Lodge service.

It added: “The Learning Lodge has been re-opened with the resumption of key functions. Customers of Learning Lodge connected products, with the exception of InnoTV, InnoTab MAX and some older generation products, are now able to securely register accounts for new products, manage their existing accounts, change their passwords and download content appropriate to their products.”

The Learning Lodge app store has also re-opened, VTech said. Except for those of InnoTV, InnoTab MAX and some older generation products, customers can now download content, including games, e-books, videos and more from the app store.

“We appologise that our Kid Connect service is still unavailable at this time, as is access to the Learning Lodge for InnoTV, InnoTab MAX and some older generation products,” the company said. “We expect Learning Lodge access for these products to resume in February. We are also working hard to resume the Kid Connect service as soon as possible. For a complete list of opened services and supported products, please refer to here.

“We want to assure you that we are committed to the privacy and protection of the information you entrust with VTech. With the assistance of one of the world’s leading cyber security teams, we have taken a number of measures to strengthen data protection on the Learning Lodge and our other connected services.”

VTech added that it plans to work on further security improvements so that its customers’ children “can enjoy their VTech toys knowing that their related data is secure.”

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