Hackers Nip NZXT, Distributes Damaging Emails
Hackers broke into NZXT's website and distributed an email claiming that the manufacturer was shutting down.
NZXT consumers who currently subscribe to the company's corporate newsletter received some sad news Tuesday night. According to the message, the company was closing its doors, attributing its financial woes to the current state of the economy.
"We value your opinions and business," said the email's pretend-author, NZXT co-founder Johnny Hou. "Our support contact information will continue to be available in order to provide warranty services, however, once current inventories are depleted, no new products will be produced."
The message ended by offering a Sentry LXE at no additional cost to the first ten people who purchase an NZXT Khaos case.
Shortly thereafter, another email was distributed to newsletter subscribers, this time from Victoria Chiang, marketing manager for NZXT. According to her statement, the website was "experiencing technical difficulties and will soon be accessible." She also added that the company was not closing its doors, and that it was actually "doing exceptionally well."
So the email was just a glitch? No.
According to Hou, the NZXT website was hacked. The email with his name wasn't real. "Yesterday at 7:30 PM PST the NZXT website was infiltrated illegally," he said in an announcement. "While having access to the site, hackers made several malicious changes including sending out an erroneous newsletter to our database claiming that NZXT is going out of business. They also changed product warranties, deleted product and home page banners, etc."
Like Chiang, he also stated that the company was not going out of business. In fact, the company is poised to launch several products over the next two months including the Phantom full tower case previously unveiled at Computex.
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Neither Hou nor Chiang offered any details as to who hacked the website, or why.
Kevin Parrish has over a decade of experience as a writer, editor, and product tester. His work focused on computer hardware, networking equipment, smartphones, tablets, gaming consoles, and other internet-connected devices. His work has appeared in Tom's Hardware, Tom's Guide, Maximum PC, Digital Trends, Android Authority, How-To Geek, Lifewire, and others.
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Darkerson Yeah, I just got a NZXT Beta earlier this year for my new build and it is a pretty nice case for how much I paid (only $50).Reply -
scook9 They are awesome with warranties. They are sending me two new pcb's for my Cryo LX (the BEST notebook cooler in the world) a full year after purchasing it without giving me any trouble at all. They do not even sell this model any more (if they do it is not in stock at ANY online stores)Reply -
bomberboysk The Cryo LX is in stock at quite a few locations(amazon and Xoxide , i agree with NZXT warranty...i love it, and i love the NZXT Beta as well as the NZXT Gamma, and M59, all such wonderful cases for the price that they are at.Reply -
grieve free advertising?Reply
I like NZXT as well, being the suspicious person i am i have to wonder if this is just to get their name in the news, generate a buzz.
examples:
It works for apple -->iphone beta forgotten in a public place.
It works for guy with moose video that was pirated. -
jon1245 Although I'm glad they aren't out of business, this person that hacked into their system is by no means a real hacker, a skiddie (script kiddie) at best. No real hacker would take the time to send out an email like that or change warranties; they'd just completely dismantle the webpage and replace it with something funny OR they'd steal customer info.Reply
No, this was someone who has a grudge against NZXT and wants to hurt their reputation. I wouldn't be surprised if this is a former/current employee using their login credentials. -
lobsterm grievefree advertising?Reply
Sounds like good advertising.
The message ended by offering a Sentry LXE at no additional cost to the first ten people who purchase an NZXT Khaos case.
I wonder how many people bought an Khaos case. -
It wasn't a disgruntled employee. Someone found the admin page. The admin page was flawed and took any username and password. That is how access was made. They weren't out to hurt/damage the company. They just wanted to mess around a bit because they could, and they wanted the company to take notice and fix the really terribly obvious flaw. There was no grudge. Ever done something wrong just because you could? That's why this person did it.Reply