The information stolen includes your name, password, date of birth and address. All of which could be used to steal your identity. The worst of course is the likely possibility of your credit card information.
For more information about this breaking news, please visit the following sites.
http://blog.us.playstation.com/2011/04/26/update-on-playstation-network-and-qriocity/
http://arstechnica.com/gaming/news/2011/04/sony-admits-utter-psn-failure-your-personal-data-has-been-stolen.ars
To my friends who own a Playstation 3 or use the Qriocity music service, I implore you to take actions to protect yourself!
Please take the following actions
Change your passwords for all of your user accounts. These include
- MySpace
- Online financial and banking accounts.
- Any account that holds personal or important information that you do not want others to access.
Update: It is also highly recommended to change your PSN password as soon as possible once the Playstation Network service is back online.
Update 2: It is being reported on some gamer sites, such as GiantBomb, that Sony has confirmed that there is no way to determine a user's PSN password. Even though your password was encrypted in Sony's system. I still advise you to consider your password compromised! If you use the same password for other sites around the web, I recommend changing them all. If your not sure, change them all anyway.
Update 2: It is being reported on some gamer sites, such as GiantBomb, that Sony has confirmed that there is no way to determine a user's PSN password. Even though your password was encrypted in Sony's system. I still advise you to consider your password compromised! If you use the same password for other sites around the web, I recommend changing them all. If your not sure, change them all anyway.
If you have used a credit card for services on your Playstation 3 or use the Qriocity service. Please cancel your cards immediately and contact the following credit agencies to put a credit fraud alert on your accounts.
Experian: 888-397-3742; www.experian.com; P.O. Box 9532, Allen, TX 75013
Equifax: 800-525-6285; www.equifax.com; P.O. Box 740241, Atlanta, GA 30374-0241
TransUnion: 800-680-7289; www.transunion.com; Fraud Victim Assistance Division, P.O. Box 6790, Fullerton, CA 92834-6790
Sony has also provided a wealth of sources for data and protection against identity theft.
You may wish to visit the web site of the U.S. Federal Trade Commission at www.consumer.gov/idtheft or reach the FTC at 1-877-382-4357 or 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20580 for further information about how to protect yourself from identity theft. Your state Attorney General may also have advice on preventing identity theft, and you should report instances of known or suspected identity theft to law enforcement, your State Attorney General, and the FTC. For North Carolina residents, the Attorney General can be contacted at 9001 Mail Service Center, Raleigh, NC 27699-9001; telephone (877) 566-7226; or www.ncdoj.gov. For Maryland residents, the Attorney General can be contacted at 200 St. Paul Place, 16th Floor, Baltimore, MD 21202; telephone: (888) 743-0023; or www.oag.state.md.us.
