Publisher Bethesda confirms hack attacks

Anti-gaming hackers have claimed their latest victim.

Publisher Bethesda has confirmed it suffered a hacker attack on its websites over the weekend.

The Brink and Hunted publisher said the hackers "may have gained access to some user names, email addresses, and/or passwords". It advised users change their passwords on all of its sites immediately.

No personal financial information or credit card data was obtained, however.

"Over the past weekend, a hacker group attempted an unlawful intrusion of our websites to gain access to data," Bethesda said in a statement on its website.

"We believe we have taken appropriate action to protect our data against these attacks. While no personal financial information or credit card data was obtained, the hackers may have gained access to some user names, email addresses, and/or passwords. As a precaution, we recommend that all our fans immediately change passwords on all our sites - including our community forums and the statistics site we maintain for Brink players.

"If your username/email address/password is similar to what you use on other sites, we recommend changing the password at those sites as well. As we don't know what further plans the hackers may have, we suggest that you keep an eye out for suspicious emails and account activity.

"We regret any inconvenience that these attacks on us cause for you. These attacks will be evaluated to determine if there are any additional protections we might take that would be prudent."

The hack was the work of Lulz Security – the same hacker group that attacked Sony and other websites in recent weeks.

LulzSec warned on Twitter it was taking aim at Bethesda.

"We were going to keep this little treasure chest to ourselves, but it appears the hand has been bitten. Say your prayers, Brink users," the group said over the weekend.

Then, "Big lulz coming up in the near future. Time to show these b****es how it's done. #Brink #Bethesda #ZeniMax"

Defending its attack, LulzSec said: "Snap your minds into a new realm, my friends. We did it because they couldn't stop us - and did it we did, as you'll see. We always deliver."