Nintendo now says that the accounts of 300,000 Switch users have been hacked

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Nintendo now says that the accounts of 300,000 Switch users have been hacked
Getty Images/Michael Kovac
  • Nintendo's Switch game console is wildly popular, with over 55 million units sold — and it's been out of stock nearly everywhere for months because of increased demand as millions of people are forced indoors during the coronavirus pandemic.
  • As more people than ever are using the Switch, hackers are increasingly targeting Nintendo Switch digital accounts.
  • Nintendo revealed a major breach in April, saying that "about 160,000 accounts" of Nintendo Switch users were affected. As it turns out, the actual number was closer to 300,000, Nintendo said this week.
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Do you have a Nintendo Switch? Did you also have a Nintendo 3DS or Wii U?

If you answered yes to both of those questions, there's a possibility your Nintendo Switch account was one of about 300,000 that was breached by hackers.

Nintendo announced the breach in April, but it doubled the number of affected accounts in an update this week "as a result of continuing the investigation."

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The issue applies specifically to anyone who connected their old Nintendo 3DS and Wii U "Nintendo Network ID," or NNID, to the Switch. Nintendo now uses a system called Nintendo Account, but the company allowed people with existing NNIDs to connect those to their new Nintendo Account.

Nintendo said it no longer allows NNID logins on the Switch.

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If your account was breached, you'll likely know soon by receiving an email like this:

Nintendo now says that the accounts of 300,000 Switch users have been hacked
Business Insider

Beyond sending an email to the account associated with your Nintendo Account, Nintendo is alerting affected users by forcing a password reset.

"As a further precaution," the company said, "we will soon contact users about resetting passwords for Nintendo Network IDs and Nintendo Accounts that we have reason to believe were accessed without authorization."

Going forward, the company suggests doing two things to make your accounts more secure.

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First, you should change the passwords associated with both your Nintendo Account and your Nintendo Network ID. Second, you should set up two-factor authentication, which adds an extra layer of security on top of a password.

For more information, check out Nintendo's support page here.

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