Capcom has confirmed the details of a rather large data breach, revealing today that it’s been targeted in a “customized ransomware attack.” We’re already seeing numerous leaks concerning Capcom’s upcoming games, with that information seemingly coming from this leak, but it’s also possible that information for about 350,000 customers, shareholders, and former employees was leaked in this breach as well.
Unfortunately, Capcom can’t say whether that happened for sure at this point. In a press release published to its website today, Capcom did confirm that information for 9 employees – five former and four current – was leaked, but counts that customer information as “potentially compromised data.” In the event that customer data was leaked, the company expects a maximum of around 350,000 affected customers, but thankfully, Capcom has confirmed that none of the potentially at-risk information includes credit card data.
So, what could the leak include? That depends on where you are in the world and how you’ve used Capcom’s products. For instance, here in North America, there are 14,000 Capcom Store customers who have potentially had their names, birthdates, and email addresses leaked, while there are approximately 134,000 customer service customers in Japan who have had their names, addresses, phone numbers, and email addresses leaked. A further 4,000 “esports operations website members” in North America have potentially had their names, emails, and gender information leaked as well.
That’s where the investigation stands as of today, with Capcom still investigating the matter. Capcom says that it will be contacting users whose information has been compromised as it verifies who was affected, though notes that its investigation and analysis of this breach has taken longer than usual because it was a ransomware attack. As the investigation continues to play out, Capcom says that it’s safe to play its games online and access its websites.
So, for now, the extent of this data breach is still unknown, with the BBC pointing out that Capcom’s statements on the matter suggest that it hasn’t paid the ransom demanded by these hackers. We’ll see what happens from here, so stay tuned for more information.
Keyword: Capcom hack targets 350,000 gamers’ personal info