Sega Joins Latest Hacking Victim List; LulzSec offers help

Video game developer Sega joined the rapidly growing list of gaming companies whose computer systems have been hacked by cyber criminals.

The Japans video game firm said on Sunday that about information on 1.3 million customers has been stolen from its database via a website of its European unit.

Names, birth dates, e-mail addresses and encrypted passwords of users of Sega Pass online network members has been compromised, Sega said in a statement.

However, payment information was not compromised as Sega uses external payment providers. Sega customers have been advised to change passwords and be alert if they received emails requesting such information.

“We are deeply sorry for causing trouble to our customers. We want to work on strengthening security, Yoko Nagasawa, a Sega spokeswoman told Reuters.

The hacking of Sega is the latest in recent times notwithstanding the fact that hacking had earlier skewered the likes of entertainment giant Sony, defense contractor Lockheed Martin, the U.S. Senate, and the FBI, cnetwebsite reported.

The Pass network went offline on Thursday, the day when Sega learnt of the breach and it is not known when it will go online. The company said it is investigating the breach and the network was going through some improvements.

Interestingly, soon after the hack, Sega, which currently focuses on developing video game titles for other gaming consoles a such as Microsoft's XBox 360, found an unlikely friend in Lulz Security (or LulzSec), a loose group of hackers who attacked the PBS website in May and posted a fake story about rapper Tupac Shakur being alive, offered to help the company find its attackers and destroy them.

LulzSec sent out a public tweet addressed to Sega: @Sega - contact us. We want to help you destroy the hackers that attacked you. We love the Dreamcast, these people are going down, the tweet read.