Vigilance can report that Sony Computer Entertainment Europe Ltd, having discovered that between April 17 and April 19, 2011, certain PlayStation Network and Qriocity service user account information had been compromised in connection with an illegal and unauthorized intrusion into their network, has sent email to all PSN registrants.
In response to this intrusion, Sony has:
1) Temporarily turned off PlayStation Network and Qriocity services;
2) Engaged an outside, recognized security firm to conduct a full and complete investigation into what happened; and
3) Quickly taken steps to enhance security and strengthen their network infrastructure by re-building their system to provide customers with greater protection of their personal information.
Sony said it greatly appreciated its customers’ patience, understanding and goodwill while promising to do whatever they can to resolve the embarrassing issues as quickly and efficiently as practicable.
Although investigation is ongoing, Sony thinks an unauthorized person has obtained the vital information provided by customers such as: name, address (city, state/province, zip or postal code), country, email address, birth date, PlayStation Network/Qriocity passwords and login and handle/PSN online ID.
In a statement to its customers, Sony conjectured: “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 that credit card data was taken at this time, we cannot rule out the possibility. If you have provided your credit card data through PlayStation Network or Qriocity, to be on the safe side we are advising that your credit card number (excluding security code) and expiration date may also have been obtained.”
Warning it customers, Sony said: “For your security, we encourage you to be especially aware of email, telephone, and postal mail scams that ask for personal or sensitive information. Sony will not contact you in any way, including by email, asking for your credit card number, social security, tax identification or similar number or other personally identifiable information. If you are asked for this information, you can be confident Sony is not the entity asking. When the PlayStation Network and Qriocity services are fully restored, we strongly recommend that you log on and change your password. Additionally, if you use your PlayStation Network or Qriocity user name or password for other unrelated services or accounts, we strongly recommend that you change them, as well.”
To protect against possible identity theft or other financial loss, Sony encourages them to remain vigilant to and review their account statements and monitor their credit or similar types of reports.
Concluding its message to its numerous customers, Sony said: “We thank you for your patience as we complete our investigation of this incident, and we regret any inconvenience. Our teams are working around the clock on this, and services will be restored as soon as possible. Sony takes information protection very seriously and will continue to work to ensure that additional measures are taken to protect personally identifiable information. Providing quality and secure entertainment services to our customers is our utmost priority.”