Sony hit by second wave of hackers

June 14, 2011 - PRLog -- Electronics giant Sony has suffered a second major security breach in under a month. Having issued a worldwide alert after personal details of 77 million Play Station users worldwide were stolen by hackers, the company now says an extra 24.6 million computer game users may have had their personal details stolen.

The company said the names, addresses, email details, birthdays, phone numbers and other information from PC games customers were stolen from its servers, alongside an old database from 2007. The announcement came less than a day after Sony had officially apologised for the first security lapse, one of the worst breaches in internet history - which involved the details of up to three million people in the UK amongst the 77 million total.

The 'second' incident actually happened on April 16 and 17 - days earlier than the PlayStation break-in, even though the company only revealed the information recently. The attack targeted the Sony Online Entertainment (SOE) PC games network, which hosts games played over the internet on PCs. The other loss, the 2007 database, had a further 23,400 financial records, including direct debit details of European customers.

Computer security experts said the larger attack looked very much like deliberate commercial criminal activity going for a saleable commodity - people's identities. But of the newly announced attack, a company spokesperson said there was no evidence that the information taken had been used illicitly for financial gain.

In response to this latest concern, the SOE network was taken down and Sony was also forced to suspend its SOE games on Facebook. After the previously announced attack, Sony warned all users of the PlayStation network (PSN) to watch out for fraudulent activity on their credit cards. Users were also warned to be wary of 'phishing' emails - those pretending to be updates or security information. Also to make it a priority to change the password on any sites or services where use the password they had been using on the PSN. The same advice will now apply to users of the SOE network. Sony also advised that viewing your credit report could be a good way to check for any identity theft threats.

Viewing ones credit report is one of the best ways for people to check that they have not unwittingly become a victim of identity theft. A credit report is a document listing an individual’s financial history. Every adult with financial products has one, and it details any bank accounts they may have, credit cards, loans, debts and whether they are registered on the electoral roll. The credit report monitors all relevant operations and transactions which occur through out their life time, such as opening a new account and closing an old one, taking out a mortgage, even small things like mobile phone payments. Every time a payment is made to a credit card, for instance, it is highlighted within the report. One simple way of checking your credit report is at http://www.quickcreditscore.co.uk

Quick Credit Score is an online membership programme which provides everything people need to monitor their financial and credit information. This includes each member having direct access to their credit report, provided by one of the UK’s leading credit reference agencies, Callcredit. Quick Credit Score allows people to stay protected, as there are round-the-clock alerts of any suspicious activity on their credit file, provided by Callcredit. The credit report shows any credit, accounts or benefits applied for in that person's name, and any new activity on a credit report will trigger an alerts. It may be something as simple as paying off a credit card statement, but by spotting any strange activity they had not been aware of, potential victims can react immediately, and notify the relevant authorities and companies.

To join Quick Credit Score and learn more about credit reporting and how to keep your identity safe please visit http://www.quickcreditscore.co.uk for full product details, credit information and identity theft hints.

Quick Credit Score is an online membership programme, which gives you access to your credit information held by one of the UK’s leading credit reference agency.  Quick Credit Score is a membership programme and monthly membership fees are payable after any free promotional free period has come to an end.