Sony Warns of Data Breach

When the Sony PlayStation Network went down it might have had a much larger impact on users than first thought. Sure the outage was annoying for gamers but it now appears as though some user information might also have been obtained during the attack. Information which included users names, addresses, birth dates, purchase history and online ID. At this time Sony is also warning users that their credit card number and expiration date may have been obtained.

Sony's Sr. Director, Corporate Communications & Social Media Patrick Seybold, provided details of the potential breach in a blog post on the PlayStation Blog.

Although we are still investigating the details of this incident, we believe that an unauthorized person has obtained the following information that you provided: name, address (city, state, zip), country, email address, birthdate, PlayStation Network/Qriocity password and login, and handle/PSN online ID. It is also possible that your profile data, including purchase history and billing address (city, state, zip), and your PlayStation Network/Qriocity password security answers may have been obtained. If you have authorized a sub-account for your dependent, the same data with respect to your dependent may have been obtained. While there is no evidence at this time that credit card data was taken, we cannot rule out the possibility. If you have provided your credit card data through PlayStation Network or Qriocity, out of an abundance of caution we are advising you that your credit card number (excluding security code) and expiration date may have been obtained.

To protect against possible identity theft or other financial loss, Sony is encouraging customers to remain vigilant, to review their account statements and to monitor credit reports.

U.S. residents are entitled under U.S. law to one free credit report annually from each of the three major credit bureaus. To order your free credit report, visit www.annualcreditreport.com or call toll-free (877) 322-8228.