Network security course experts have closely followed Nintendo-related news recently. One of the most striking facts of the cybersecurity community is a massive data leak from the video game company, including source code for some of its old consoles, prototypes, blueprints, and documentary material on the company’s hardware and software.
The leaking includes source code for consoles such as Nintendo Wii, N64, GameCube, in addition to the demo versions of some N64 games.
Network security course researchers believe this leak could be linked to a security incident that occurred at Nintendo a couple of years ago. Alex Donaldson, a journalist and web developer, mentions that this is a “biblical proportions” incident. Nintendo has not issued any official statements in this regard.
Although code dating back to 1990 was leaked, there is now a large community of enthusiasts of these video game systems, so the technical details regarding the operation of Nintendo’s classic consoles remain a topic of great interest.
According to network security course specialists, most of these classic video games (or released in the 1990s) have already undergone reverse engineering processes, so enthusiasts can make their own versions of these “emulators” developments. However, leaking this code will allow them to produce much more sophisticated versions.
The code was gradually leaked through anonymous sources on 4chan, a platform known for its multiple software leaks and inappropriate content. A security firm managed to download a copy of the material, which appeared to correlate with the description of a data breach revealed in a gamer forum.
All leaked material is believed to be about 2 TB, although so far only the third part has been made public, a member of the gamer community says that it has tracked the incident through his YouTube channel.
Although nothing is confirmed, everyone believes it is possible that the leak is related to a security incident Nintendo suffered in 2018. According to the International Institute for Cyber Security (IICS), the user Zammis Clark of England pleaded guilty to the intrusion, and was sentenced to 15 months in prison, starting from April 2019.
While working for a security firm, Zammis was also accused of hacking Microsoft’s internal network in early 2017, stealing 43,000 files and loading malware into compromised networks.
He is a well-known expert in mobile security and malware analysis. He studied Computer Science at NYU and started working as a cyber security analyst in 2003. He is actively working as an anti-malware expert. He also worked for security companies like Kaspersky Lab. His everyday job includes researching about new malware and cyber security incidents. Also he has deep level of knowledge in mobile security and mobile vulnerabilities.
