Several news reports have surfaced of the suspected hacking of player accounts of popular video game Fortnite, with some gamers apparently faced with large credit card charges from fraudulent purchases.
Fortnite, available on Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Windows PC and Mac, is a ‘battle royal’ action survival game developed by Epic Games in which players collect resources, build fortifications and construct weapons and traps to engage in combat against creatures.
In a statement, Epic said: “We are aware of instances where users’ accounts have been compromised using well-known hacking techniques.
“Any players who believe their account has been compromised should reach out to our player support immediately.”
David Emm, principal security researcher at Kaspersky Lab, said that the gaming industry is becoming an increasingly attractive target for cyber-criminals.
“However, many online gamers don’t take precautions to reflect this. According to Kaspersky Lab research, just 5% of people selected their gaming account as being one of three that require the strongest passwords.
“Online gamers – both amateur and professional – are understandably concerned about having their accounts hacked, or being locked out of their accounts by forgetting their passwords. This is a dilemma that people face every day, with many choosing the less secure option of using either the same password for all their accounts, or simple passwords that are easy for hackers to guess.”
Only by taking appropriate precautions and using strong, unique passwords will people be confident that their valuable accounts are protected and that all their efforts have not gone to waste, he added. “In addition, gamers should protect their computers and not disable features for fear of them interfering with their gameplay.”