EA resets gamer passwords after hacks

By Wesley Yin-Poole Published 28 June, 2011

It's "helpful" to change passwords regularly.

EA has begun sending emails out to its customers notifying them that their passwords have been reset.

The move may be a response to the recent LulzSec hack that saw user names and passwords tied to hundreds of thousands of Battlefield Online beta accounts leaked online.

In its email, EA tells customers "changing your password regularly is always helpful to protect your account".

It then provides a link from which you can change your EA Account password.

Over the weekend LulzSec announced it had disbanded, but it appears it has not disappeared.

The hacker group appears to have found a home under the umbrella of Anonymous.

Picture of Wesley.

About Wesley Yin-Poole

Wesley is Eurogamer's news editor. He likes news, interviews, and more news. He also likes Street Fighter more than anyone can get him to shut up about it.

Read more articles from Wesley by visiting the Wesley Yin-Poole archive page.

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Comments (14) Latest comment 11 months ago

Comments for this article are now closed, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • X201 #1 11 months ago

    "that their email addresses have been reset. "

    Do you mean passwords?

  • BraveArse #2 11 months ago

    @1 confused me too.

    EA you twunts, I've already reacted to this and changed my bloody password. Far, far too damn slow.

  • PixelPirate #3 11 months ago

    "changing your password regularly is always helpful to protect your account"

    securing your servers ALSO HELPS.

    This isnt the customers fault, how dare they imply otherwise. Arrogant tw*ts.
    Edited by PixelPirate at 28/06/11 @ 13:48

  • BraveArse #4 11 months ago

    btw go here:

    [link url=http://gizmodo.com/5815551/find-out-if-your-personal-data-is-part-of-lulzsecs-grand-finale
    ]http://gizmodo.com/5815551/find-out-if-y...[/link]

    to see if you've been leaked.

  • LockeTribal #5 11 months ago

    Thanks for that BraveArse! Apparently my encrypted password has been leaked! Unfortunately I use the same username on most websites, but with different email/password combinations, so I'll have to change everything :(

  • M4RV #6 11 months ago

    @LockeTribal:

    Hardly the smartest thing I'd say.

  • BraveArse #7 11 months ago

    No worries, I suspect quite a lot of people on EG will have been done by the Battlefield Heroes Beta hack. I think I got my key from here tbh, it's a shame that EG haven't got the gumption to at least link to the tool or make their own.

  • LockeTribal #8 11 months ago

    @M4RV - How do you mean? Using the same username or using different passwords/email addresses? Using the same username on different web accounts may not be the most secure way of doing things but it saves a lot of hassle.

    I mean in all likelihood, I no longer use the same password I used on the Battlefield Heroes beta, but I don't fancy taking the chance.

  • raloB #9 11 months ago

    Consider using Keepass for your passwords.

  • Darren #10 11 months ago

    I don't see quite how changing your password regularly will stop sites like EA's from being hacked and your details plus current password at the time being stolen and used. Unless you're extremely lucky and just happen to change your password immediately after the previous one has been stolen then you're still at risk of having your details misused in the interval between the hack and being informed about it whether you change your password regularly or not!!! Do EA expect us to change it hourly or something?

    Bah! Seems to me that companies like EA have such poor security in place that they attempt to draw attention away from it by making pointless and unhelpful suggestions that effectively pass the blame back to the user. Gee, thanks, EA. ;)
    Edited by Darren at 28/06/11 @ 16:33

  • Darren #11 11 months ago

    @BraveArse - I've no idea how reliable that link was but I least it gave me some initial comfort knowing that my own details do not appear to have been leaked to the public. Thanks for that.

  • bad09 #12 11 months ago

    Maybe if EA didn't tie me like a dog to some fucking useless account just to play some video games none of this nonsense would be needed. To be fair it's not just them but I'm getting so fed up of the internet connected gaming industry with accounts for this accounts for that.

    Really considering cracking my games from now on, you have none of this rubbish or DRM it's win win situation for the consumer.

    / actually wishes for the "good old days" of just using a BLOODY DISC CHECK!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  • BraveArse #13 11 months ago

    @Darren - no worries. Gizmodo have been around for a a long time, one the few sites I properly trust tbh. It certainly flagged 2 (!) of my usernames as being leaked and a couple of my mates as well, all of whom had been on the BFH beta. So I can vouch for it's accuracy. I've gone and reset everything now, but man that was annoying.
    Edited by BraveArse at 28/06/11 @ 18:39

  • VibratingDonkey #14 11 months ago

    "changing your password regularly is always helpful to protect your account"

    Being able to use special characters in my password would also be helpful. As would EA salting their MD5 hashes.
    Have they said anything about addressing these security concerns? Why are companies so terrible at communicating with their users?