IRCNE2011051098
3 May 2011
IDG News Service - The widely publicized hack of Sony's computer networks is worse than previously thought, also affecting 24.6 million Sony Online Entertainment network accounts.
Sony -- which has kept its Sony PlayStation Network offline for nearly two weeks as it investigates a computer intrusion -- took a second gaming network offline on Monday, saying it too appears to have been hacked. It said banking and credit card information belonging to more than 23,000 customers outside the U.S. may have been compromised.
The Sony Online Entertainment network, used for massively multiplayer online games like EverQuest, Star Wars Galaxies and Matrix Online, has been suspended temporarily, Sony said Monday. Add this to the 77 million accounts that may have been compromised last week, and Sony is responsible for one of the largest recorded data breaches.
The entertainment network is separate from the PlayStation Network but both hacks have similar traits, said Mai Hora, a spokeswoman for Sony Computer Entertainment in Tokyo.
In both cases, the stolen data includes customer names, e-mail addresses and hashed versions of their account passwords. That data could be used to spam customers or trick them with phishing e-mails.
Note: Credit card information at PlayStation Network was encrypted.
- 2