Black Desert Online Locks User Accounts Due To A Serious Data Breach

There’s been a serious security breach over at Kakao Games involving the leak of confidential Black Desert Online user account data. The studio reported in a recent forum post that a number of users have had their unencrypted passwords, emails, and Kakao Cash history posted on various public websites and platforms forcing them to lock the said accounts and reset their passwords pending verification from the original owner.

Affected users will have to personally contact customer support and follow the steps below to unlock their accounts.

• You must contact us from the new email address you created.
• State the email address your account is currently associated with.
• A photo of your photo ID card, taken in front of today's physical newspaper clearly showing the date, or over your screen showing your open ticket needs to be added as an attachment to the ticket. Please understand we will have to delete the tickets with the incorrectly added pictures, which may slow down the process for you.
• Please obscure the identity number and pass photo before you send or scan us a copy of your ID.

By submitting your personal identification for account verification, you consent to the handling and processing of the information you provide. Once processed, your personal identification will be deleted along with the holding ticket within 90 days.

Please note that we will deny any email address transfer if the above information is missing or incorrect.

Please also ensure that:

• The ID is a valid government-issued document and has not expired.
• The picture of ID is added as an attachment to the ticket. Pictures added as external links or added directly to the message will not be accepted.
• The image is clear and readable.
• The relevant information needed is not obscured.
• The image is not manipulated in any way.
• The ticket in the background of your ID is an already sent one. We will not accept a picture where the ticket in the background is still in creation, or where you hold your ID against the Knowledge Base article or an online newspaper.

Understandably, a number of affected users are uneasy about providing Kakao with copies of their ID’s and personal information after what just happened. The studio has yet to issue an official statement on how the breach occurred. They, however, admit that they have no way of knowing whether all involved accounts have been locked and urges all users who think they could have been affected to change passwords immediately.

Head over to the Black Desert Online official forums or this subreddit thread to learn more.