After the incident in August, the company's confidential materials, including a range of sensitive personal data and commercial information, have just begun to be uploaded onto the Internet.
Another big trophy was added to the fantasy display of the digital underworld when Game Freak, known as the developer of Pokémon, officially confirmed that it had been the victim of a hacker attack. Otherwise, he wouldn't be able to hide it for much longer, as the company's internal materials began to be published online.
In the bulletin in Japanese [PDF] It states that an unidentified third party has gained unauthorized access to the company's IT system. Because of the incident, the names, physical addresses, email addresses, and phone numbers of former and current employees, among other things, were obtained by unauthorized persons.
The company attempts to notify all stakeholders personally, and has also appointed a contact person who is at the stakeholders' disposal to answer any questions they may have. The short information from the Japanese company ends with an apology.
Trade secrets and other interesting facts
Reading and writing a report According to the report, the break-in likely occurred in August, and the perpetrators were certainly awaiting ransom in the time that has passed since then. Since materials stolen from the company are constantly leaking, it is likely that they have not surrendered to blackmailers. (Although it is not unprecedented for criminals to disclose payment data of “customers” as well.)
Among the information that has already come to light are small and large materials, source codes, and texts of business discussions related to existing games and in development, but these leaked files also revealed, for example, that a real-life Pokemon game and film series are planned.
However, at the same time, no secret information or data package has yet to be revealed regarding the company's next big release, which is Pokémon Legends ZA developed for the Nintendo Switch console.
(Illustration by Jim Fricke)