Nintendo latest to fall victim to hacker attacks

Nintendo WiiNintendo is the latest well-known name to fall victim to a series of cyber-attacks that have been dominating the IT headlines in recent weeks.

The Lulz Security hacking group published what they said was an internal configuration file for one of Nintendo’s US servers.

Other victims of LulzSec recently have included InfraGard, PBS, Fox TV, and – on multiple occasions – Sony.

Although there was no corporate or customer information exposed by the Nintendo hack, it couldn’t have come at a worse time for the firm. Nintendo is due to reveal details of the successor to its Nintendo Wii games console (dubbed the “Wii 2” until we know any better) this week at the E3 show.

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Interestingly, although Lulz Security appears to have no love for Sony (which has become something of a ‘whipping boy’ in the hacking community in recent weeks), they do appear to hold a true fan-boy affection for competing game firms Nintendo and Sega.

Although perhaps tweeting that they’re prepared to hack on Sega and Nintendo’s behalf is taking things a bit far..

Tweet by Lulz Security

The love may be unrequited, but LulzSec isn’t holding back in its affection for Nintendo despite the hack:

Tweet by Lulz Security

Lulz Security is playing a dangerous game, however. As it continues to gain public attention through high profile hacks it is surely at risk of being investigated by the computer crime authorities.

It seems to me that no-one should be complacent about their web security – whether a hacking group has an axe to grind against your company, or a criminal gang is hellbent on stealing information about your customers, you had better ensure that you have proper web security in place and your sites are well defended.

If you haven’t already done so, download Sophos’s free technical paper all about “Securing Websites”.


Graham Cluley is an award-winning keynote speaker who has given presentations around the world about cybersecurity, hackers, and online privacy. A veteran of the computer security industry since the early 1990s, he wrote the first ever version of Dr Solomon's Anti-Virus Toolkit for Windows, makes regular media appearances, and is the co-host of the popular "The AI Fix" and "Smashing Security" podcasts. Follow him on Bluesky, Mastodon, and Threads, or drop him an email.

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