The Animal Jam Data Breach!

 Hey jammers! Popcorn here! If you are having trouble with logging into your account, keep reading this post to find out why, how you can fix it, and some security safety tips! *Sources are at the bottom of the page for where I found my information, and where you can read more about the data breach*

If you don't already know, recently there was a data breach at WildWorks (the company that developed Animal Jam). A couple of hackers stole "46 million Animal Jam records in early October", but they only found out about it in November. Unfortunately, WildWorks believes that the stolen data is circulating on a "cybercrime forum", meaning that the hackers that have accessed the data maybe have used (or be using) it by now. WildWorkes also mentioned in a statement that "the stolen data dates back to over the past 10 years, so former users may still be affected. Though much of the stolen data wasn't highly personal, some records DID include some players'

• Gender
  
  
• Birthday (Year, month, day)
  
  
• The password for your player account
  
  
• Parent Account information including: (NOTE: none of the parent account passwords were effected)
      -The username into the parent account
      -The email into the parent account
      - A parent's full name (first and last) and billing address (but no other billing information was said to be released)
      - A parent's full name (first and last), but no billing information

Having trouble logging in? Your password may have been changed by AJHQ to help protect your account from the hackers. Here's how you can reset it: 

1. Go to the Animal Jam home screen

2. Click the "Parents" tab at the top of your screen

3. Go to "Manage Online"

4. Log into your parent's account with their email and password. If you or your parent has forgotten their password, just click the "Forgot your password?" link under the green Log In button

5. Under the little settings icon, press Update next to "Player Password:"!

Tips for a Strong Password:

• Make sure your password is at least 8 characters long - It's a lot harder for a hacker to get your password when it's confusing (but not for you) and long. 
  
  
• Include numbers, symbols, and uppercase and lowercase letters - For example: if you're making a password like cat (please don't ever do that to yourself xd) change the letters to make it look like this, ɔ@T. It's so random that it would be hard for a hacker to guess it. 
  
  
• Avoid including personal information - This one is really inportant when making a password. Don't include things like your address, birthday, phone numbers, etc. 

If you want to learn extra tips and tricks, here's an article I found helpful: 

https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/504786/8-tips-make-your-passwords-strong-possible

Finally, if you do think that you're information was accessed by a hacker, you can contact AJHQ by submitting a request to them or emailing them at support@animaljam.com . 

Feel free to ask me if you have any questions as well! Thanks for reading and happy jamming! 

~popcorn

Sources: 

Tech Crunch: Animal jam was hacked, and data stolen; here's what parents need to know. 

AJHQ: Animal Jam Data Breach Alert

Animal Jam Stream: Animal Jam's Data Breach - What You Need to Know