Nice score by the Entertainment Software Association (which we will shorten to ESA from now on): the private information of 2025 video producers and journalists leaked.

The affected people (journalists, streamers, YouTube creators) had their private information (their name, where they publish, their email addresses, and their phone numbers) become available on ESA’s website via a download link, as discovered by a YouTuber named Sophia Narwitz.

„[The] ESA was made aware of a website vulnerability that led to the contact list of registered journalists attending E3 being made public. Once notified, we immediately took steps to protect that data and shut down the site, which is no longer available. We regret this occurrence and have put measures in place to ensure it will not occur again,” the ESA’s first statement reads.

However, they published another one, explaining how it happened: „The Entertainment Software Association (ESA) was made aware yesterday of a website vulnerability on the exhibitor portal section of the E3 website. Unfortunately, a vulnerability was exploited and that list became public. We regret this happened and are sorry. We provide ESA members and exhibitors with a media list on a password-protected exhibitor site so they can invite you to E3 press events, connect with you for interviews, and let you know what they are showcasing. For more than 20 years there has never been an issue. When we found out, we took down the E3 exhibitor portal and ensured the media list was no longer available on the E3 website. Again, we apologize for the inconvenience and have already taken steps to ensure this will not happen again.”

Such a leak is no joke – let’s hope not a single reader has been affected. This accident somewhat justifies Sony not attending E3 this year (although they also had NOTHING TO SHOW, to be fair)… oh and the ESA will have a tough time in Europe because of it (GRPD, since May 2018)!

Source: Gamesindustry