Although it was first reported that Sony's online game publishing division had not been affected by the recent PSN and Qriocity woes, Sony Online Entertainment have issued a statement confirming that the intrusion has indeed extended to them and that as many as 24.6 million SOE accounts may have been breeched and 12,700 stored customer credit card numbers may have been stolen.
SOE's systems include the user accounts for their many online games such as Everquest, Star Wars Galaxies and most recently DC Universe Online. More disappointingly, the
press release admits that the the data was allegedly stole on April 16th and 17th, the same time as the PlayStation Network intrusion, yet even with all the PSN furore they have seemingly only discovered this now.
Upon discovery of this additional information, the company promptly shut down all servers related to SOE services while continuing to review and upgrade all of its online security systems in the face of these unprecedented cyber-attacks.
On May 1, Sony apologized to its customers for the inconvenience caused by its network services outages. The company is working with the FBI and continuing its own full investigation while working to restore all services.
Sony is making this disclosure as quickly as possible after the discovery of the theft, and the company has posted information on its website and will send e-mails to all consumers whose data may have been stolen.
The release ambiguously refers to the breach as affecting "non-us" credit and debit card records and only specifically mentions out-dated 2007 records from several European countries. However given their slow response on this matter, we recommend that any Australian customers should also take the proper precautions. All SOE customers should be aware that unscrupulous entities responsible for the attack very likely have access to a large portion of data that could include their name, address, e-mail address, birthdate, gender, phone number, login name and hashed (not plain text, but potentially decryptable) password. All users should ensure that if they use the same account username and password on other services, that they change those as soon as possible.
In an attempt to save face, SOE will be offering 30 days free time on subscriptions and are also preparing what they're referring to as "make good" plan for PS3 players of Free Realms and DC Universe Online. See the complete
press release for more details.
Posted 01:53pm 03/5/11
glasses on. Yeeeeeeaaaaahhhhhhhh. /horatio
Posted 02:07pm 03/5/11
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Posted 03:19pm 03/5/11
I had to dispute a double charge on my visa a few weeks ago, and visa wanted to reverse both transactions not just the dupe. Cc's are widely used by consumers BECAUSE consumers are protected.
Posted 03:23pm 03/5/11
Posted 03:36pm 03/5/11
1\ If you use the same password elsewhere, change it.
2\ If the answers to security questions elsewhere could be answered with any of the information stored in your SOE, change them
3\ Keep a closer eye on your CC statements for charges you didn't make.
4\ Just generally be aware that someone out there might try and use your personal details in various ways for financial gain.
Posted 03:42pm 03/5/11
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Posted 04:55pm 03/5/11
same :(
Posted 05:14pm 03/5/11
Pretty sure that the rhetorical question was rhetorical.
Posted 07:33pm 03/5/11
A good lesson here to protect your credit card and pay subscriptions in other ways such as pay pal etc...
Posted 07:47pm 03/5/11
Hate to rain on your parade here,
Your do realise that your details are still online, you know, possibly with your PAYPAL account...
Posted 08:01pm 03/5/11
Posted 08:19pm 03/5/11
1 month of 'free' plus psn is f***** s*** when alot of the users have to go to so much effort to change passwords, cancel credit cards etc...
Posted 08:20pm 03/5/11
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Posted 11:02pm 03/5/11
http://www.fireblog.com/decoding-pci-dss-requirement-4-encrypting-and-storing-credit-card-data/