Over 11,000 Guild Wars 2 accounts hacked

Latest reports from Ars Technica indicate that over 11,000 Guild Wars 2 accounts have been affected by a recent hacking. It seems, though, that rather than targeting the game, the hackers gained passwords from other sources and matched them to the Guild Wars 2 accounts.

Ars Tecnica reported that, from Friday to Sunday, about 8,500 support requests related to hacked accounts were received. Another 2,574 requests were made by Monday.

"Hackers have lists of email addresses and passwords stolen from other games and web sites, and collected through spyware, and are systematically testing Guild Wars 2 looking for matching accounts," Guild Wars 2 developer ArenaNet warned users in an update. "To protect yourself, use a strong, unique password for Guild Wars 2 that you've never used anywhere else!"

If you do wind up getting hacked and used for botting or spamming ads for gold sales, it's like your account will be banned. This is only until ArenaNet can return the account to the rightful owner. If you find yourself unable to login, contact customer support. The customer support team is "prioritizing hacked accounts and other blocking login issues over other types of support requests".

Hacked account tickets are said to be resolved within 72 hours.