Nintendo Hacker Arrested In Spain

A man accused of hacking the database of computer gaming giant Nintendo has been arrested in Spain, after publishing private information online.

The hacker had accessed personal data of 4,000 Nintendo users stored in the database of Nintendo’s Spanish division – Nintendo Ibérica – and threatened to blackmail the company, Spain’s Interior Ministry has revealed.

Besides his threat to publish the entire database on the web, and also to approach the Data Protection Agency and report Nintendo’s negligence in protecting its customers’ private details. According to the Spanish law on personal data protection, a data breach can result in fines from £505 to £505,000, similar to fines levied by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).

The computer gaming giant, however, ignored his action, and the hacker began leaking some of the acquired personal data online.

He was later arrested in the province of Malaga in southern Spain. His identity and motive remained unknown, but Nintendo confirmed the investigation is underway.

Data breach threat

Meanwhile, data breach threats are also present in the UK, and , data leaks are on the rise. In fact, they appear to be the greatest concern for organisations, according to a survey by IBM last year.

Among 115 C-level executives surveyed, 77 percent said their organisation had experienced a data breach at certain point, while every single respondent disclosed that their personal data had been hacked in the last 12 months.

The continued threat of data infringement is reflected by the growing investment in security strategies and technologies, said the report.

In December 2010, online publisher Gawker Media admitted that its servers were hacked into and that users’ account names as well as passwords had been stolen. “We’re deeply embarrassed by this breach,” said Gawker Media. “We should not be in the position of relying on the goodwill of the hackers who identified the weakness in our systems. And, yes, the irony is not lost on us.”