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Gawker hack prompts Blizzard to issue password reset

Adam Holisky
Editor
Updated ·2 min read

The hacking of Gawker websites earlier last week has prompted Blizzard to issue a security alert and emails requesting that certain users reset their Battle.net passwords. These emails, sent to your Battle.net account, request that you log into Blizzard's account management and reset your password via the provided tools.

Earlier we reported these emails as phishing attempts. This turned out to be incorrect. At the time these emails were received by members of our staff, there was no word from Blizzard on them, and such attempts at phishing out WoW account passwords are common after well-known hacking attempts.

Nonetheless, it is imperative that everyone uses an authenticator and employs good password security. Always watch what the links you go to are, and don't use the same password for multiple sites -- especially for your WoW account. If you do have an account with a Gawker website, it's recommended that you reset your Battle.net / World of Warcraft password.

Blizzard's full statement after the break.




Blizzard Entertainment
As some of you know, several Gawker Media websites, including Gawker, Gizmodo, Kotaku, Lifehacker, Jezebel, io9, Jalopnik, and Deadspin, were recently compromised. To help minimize the effects of this compromise -- namely for players who might be using the same login information for their Gawker Media accounts and their Battle.net accounts -- we recently issued password-reset emails for several accounts. If you've received an email from Blizzard Entertainment requesting a password reset as a result of the Gawker Media compromise, please click on the link included in the email's body to choose a new password. You can also log in to Battle.net Account Management to reset your password on your own ( https://us.battle.net/account/management ).

If you used your Battle.net email address to sign up with any of the Gawker Media sites listed above (for example, to post comments), we also recommend that you update your Battle.net email address as soon as possible via Account Management. If you are unable to complete this step or the password reset and believe your account might be compromised, please contact our customer support staff by using the Account Recovery Form ( https://us.battle.net/account/support/account-recovery.html ) and be sure to check out our Account Security Awareness guide ( http://us.battle.net/en/security/ ) for additional security tips and suggestions.

For more information about this situation, please visit Gawker Media's official announcement ( http://gawker.com/5713056/gawker-security-breach-were-here-to-help ) or Lifehacker's comprehensive FAQ ( http://lifehacker.com/5712785/faq-compromised-commenting-accounts-on-gawker-media ).