Spanish police have arrested a hacker who attempted to blackmail Nintendo over stolen customer information.
The unnamed hacker somehow got hold of Nintendo Iberica’s customer database covering about 4,000 users, and approached the company on February 6th, demanding money.
It’s not clear how he acquired the database – whether directly from Nintendo or from a third party – although he alleged that it was readily available.
He threatened to publish the database, and also to complain to Spain’s Data Protection Agency that Nintendo had been negligent, as the information had not been properly protected.
Nintendo refused to play ball, prompting the hacker to release the records on one ‘high-profile’ user on a technology and games forum. He noted in a post that he had the records of thousands more.
But, earlier this month, Nintendo contacted the police, who have now arrested a person in the southern province of Malaga. They say he planned to release the rest of the database online.
“According to the expert report… the hacker searched, consulted and modified information from many clients, and also downloaded 55 agendas of multinational events to be conducted in seven different cities in February,” say the Spanish police in a statement.
The hacker’s been charged with discosure of secrets and extortion.
