100M Sony Online Entertainment Accounts Hacked
After grossly mishandling the PlayStation Network breach, Sony is facing legal action both in the U.S. and abroad, along with a host of regulatory investigations by governments across the globe.
Unsurprisingly, things are about to get a lot worse.
It turns out that the company's Sony Online Entertainment network was also hacked, bringing the grand total of exposed accounts to nearly 100 million.
Although Sony has had nearly two weeks to investigate the PlayStation security breach, Reuters reports that the company did not discover the breach of its Sony Online Entertainment (SOE) system until early Monday morning.
The breach also occurred on April 18.
Serving an additional 25 million users, the SOE network hosts games played over the internet and on PCs. Databases accessed include names, addresses, phone numbers, email, and credit card information.
The SOE breach is certainly going to add to Sony's legal troubles.
In addition to two class action lawsuits (one in Canada, one in the U.S.), Reuters reports that Sony is already facing a Congressional investigation into the matter and has agreed to answer questions.
It's also likely that, with its recent focus on online user data security, the Federal Trade Commission will get in on the act, along with state Attorney General.
In the meantime, Sony has announced the steps that it will take to prevent a future attack of this magnitude and is pointing PlayStation Network and SOE customers to resources that they make use to monitor their credit information.
Unfortunately, the damage has already been done.
Related Resources:
- Sony security hole exposes another 24.6 million accounts (ZDNet)
- Detecting Identity Theft (FindLaw)
- Sony Sued Over PlayStation Network Hack (FindLaw's Injured)