So it was announced on April 25th,2012 that Cryptic Studios, the makers of Star Trek Online and Champions Online, have had "unauthorized access" to one of their user databases. It seems that the access was done in December 2010 but they have just recently uncovered the evidence due to upping their security measures. It is apparent to Cryptic Studios that some portion of the passwords in this database were cracked. They believe that account names, handles, and encrypted passwords were the only information obtained. They have no information to support this but they believe players first and last name, e-mail address, date of birth (if provided to Cryptic Studios), billing address, and the first six digits and the last four digits of credit cards registered on the site may have been accessed. They are still investigating this issue and increasing their security. For players safety, they have notified by email those affected and encouraged safety measures be taken by those people.
When I found this information, my first reaction was "wtf?!" I'm no stranger to MMOs and I have read about the other video game companies and MMOs that have gotten hacked, but Star Trek Online?! I am a huge Star Trek fan, grew up watching Star Trek: The Next Generation, and have read some of the books. I was one of the fans in the audience at the movie theather cheering when the opening scene ran for First Contact. I hunted down the Klingons and Ferengi at the Las Vegas Star Trek Experience and had my picture taken with them multiple times! (I only stopped when the tallest Klingon seemed to be getting a little bit exasperated with me.) There are just some things you don't mess with. I hope Cryptic Studios and Perfect World Entertainment step up their security measures and make Star Trek Online the safe place all MMOs should be. As Always, C
