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Photo courtesy of Netmarble |
[Alpha Biz= Paul Lee] Netmarble, one of South Korea’s leading game companies, announced on the 26th that it confirmed signs of a data breach on November 22 involving unauthorized external access to customer information on its PC game platform.
According to the company, the compromised data identified so far includes:
Names, dates of birth, and encrypted passwords of users of Netmarble’s PC game website
Names, corporate email addresses, and phone numbers of former and current employees
Names and email addresses of PC café franchise owners registered before 2015
The exact scale of the breach has not yet been determined.
Netmarble stated that it is conducting an extensive inspection across its systems to prevent further intrusion and is implementing necessary protection measures and long-term prevention plans.
The company also advised users of 18 PC game titles on its platform to reset their passwords. Affected titles include:
Baduk, Janggi, Magumagu, Sichuan Sheng, Yachae Village, Yut Nori, Character Chat, Billiards & Pocketball, Everybody’s Marble, Omok, Spot the Difference, Catch Mind, Shanghai, Power Alkkagi, Battle Crossword, Power KungKungTta, Assault Gear, and Rich Marble.
Netmarble emphasized that mobile games and titles accessed via the Netmarble Launcher were not affected by the hacking incident.
A company representative said, “Immediately after verifying the breach, we reported the incident to relevant authorities, including the Korea Internet & Security Agency (KISA) and the Personal Information Protection Commission. We are currently investigating the cause and scope of the leak. No resident registration numbers or other sensitive information have been compromised, and the exposed passwords are encrypted and cannot be misused in their current form.”
The Personal Information Protection Commission received Netmarble’s breach notification on the afternoon of the 25th.
Netmarble added, “We sincerely apologize for the concern and inconvenience caused by this incident. We will transparently disclose the full extent of the breach as soon as the official investigation concludes.”
Alphabiz Reporter Paul Lee(hoondork1977@alphabiz.co.kr)
