Zynga data breach exposed 200 million Words with Friends players

Author: IRINA IVANOVA/CBS News Writer: Derrick Shaw
Published:
Words with Friends. Photo via Google Images

More than 200 million players of the popular mobile games Words with Friends and Draw Something had their login information stolen.

Publisher Zynga announced there was a data breach of account login info for Draw Something and Words with Friends players on Sept. 12. Now, a hacker has claimed responsibility for the breach, CNET reports.

A hacker that goes by the name Gnosticplayers said they stole data from over 218 million Words with Friends player accounts, CNET wrote. The hacker accessed a database that included data from Android and iOS players who installed the game before Sept. 2, according to the report. Hacker News first reported the story.

The hack exposed users’ names, email addresses, login IDs, some Facebook IDs, some phone numbers and Zynga account IDs, according to Hacker News. It did not include financial information, Zynga said, adding that it “has already taken steps to protect users’ accounts from invalid logins” if the company believes their information was exposed. It noted that some users were required to change their passwords.

“Cyber attacks are one of the unfortunate realities of doing business today,” the company said on a support page.

Zynga is one of the most successful mobile game companies today, with hits like FarmVille, Zynga Poker, Mafia Wars and Café World.

Mobile apps have become frequent hacking targets. Last week, food delivery service DoorDash said almost 5 million accounts were accessed in a data breach.

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