Blizzard Entertainment Inc.’s internal North American servers were hacked, potentially exposing millions of emails and passwords, the Irvine-based company told its customers Aug. 10.
“We’ve found no evidence that financial information such as credit cards, billing addresses or real names were compromised,” Chief Executive Michael Morhaime said in a letter posted on the company’s website.
Blizzard said on its site that it would prompt players to change their secret questions and answers through an automated process and mobile users to update software.
Customers can expect to see a barrage of phishing emails in their inbox as a result.
“Data was illegally accessed, including a list of email addresses for global Battle.net users, outside of China,” he said.
Blizzard makes the World of Warcraft and Diablo franchises, which count some 9 million online subscribers.
The breach was first discovered Aug. 4.
The company has notified law enforcement, and an investigation is under way, Morhaime said.
The breach was the latest in a string of high-profile security threats to hit the technology sector.
Sunnyvale-based Yahoo Inc. said last month that more than 450,000 log-in credentials were stolen.
That followed a rash of breaches in early June, when some 8 million passwords were snatched from Mountain View-based LinkedIn Corp., eharmony.com in Santa Monica and London-based music provider Last.fm and then posted to hacker sites.
In the Chips
Intel Corp. might be the chip king, but Apple Inc. is the company that moves the market.
Cupertino-based Apple is forecast to buy almost $28 billion worth of chips this year, up 15% from 2011, according to a new report from Englewood, Colo.-based market tracker IHS Inc.
Apple has been the world’s top chip buyer since 2010, and its purchases are tracked closely by tech watchers on Wall Street.
The uptick could prove to be a boon for a host of local players, including chipmaker Broadcom Corp. and disk drive maker Western Digital Corp., both based in Irvine, as well as printed-circuit-board maker Multi-Fineline Electronix Inc. in Anaheim, which all count Apple as a major customer.
Broadcom makes communications, radio and touch-screen chips that go into Apple’s iPods, iPhones, iPads and MacBook Airs, among other products.
Apple was Broadcom’s biggest customer in 2011, holding the designation for a second straight year.
It accounted for 13.1% of Broadcom’s nearly $7.4 billion in revenue, which rose 11.1% in 2011, according to Broadcom’s annual report.
That means Apple accounted for almost $970 million in revenue for Broadcom last year.
It’s not clear which Apple products use Western Digital’s drives, though trade reports point to the MacBook.
Multi-Fineline, better known as M-Flex, makes circuit boards used in cell phones, smart phones and other mobile devices.
The boards are flexible, which makes them easier to design into phones, bar code scanners and other devices.
$1M Round
Irvine-based digital media startup Pivotshare has raised $1 million in its first fundraising round.
The company plans to use the proceeds to build out its platform, which allows customers to monetize and stream video and audio content across devices.
Westlake Village-based investment fund Townsgate Media was the lead investor.
Print Server Deal
Lantronix Inc. has signed a deal with Ohio-based Micro Electronics Inc. to distribute its external print server throughout the company’s network of retail stores in 16 states.
It’s a significant step for the Irvine-based company, which is in the midst of a turnaround following executive and board shake-ups that defined the last year.
Lantronix makes electronic devices and software that allow secure online communication with medical equipment, security devices, smart phones, motor vehicles, meters and thermostats, retail terminals and ATMs.
The xPrintServer is compatible with Apple’s iPads, iPod touch, iPhone and other devices running on the Cupertino-based company’s mobile operating system.
The product—which connects personal devices to home or office printers remotely—is designed for small to midsize businesses.
It supports thousands of printers from brands such as HP, Brother, Epson, Canon, Dell and Xerox and has garnered industry accolades including Best of Show and Mac Observer Editors Choice awards at this year’s Macworld expo.
Micro Electronics runs a store in Tustin under its Micro Center brand.
