Sony Online Entertainment Hacked – Does It Affect You?

Following hot on the heels of the recent admission that the PlayStation Network servers had been hacked comes the news that Sony Online Entertainment (SOE) has also been attacked. SOE is responsible for games like DC Universe Online, EverQuest II and Star Wars Galaxies. If you have an account with SOE check your inbox as they have been sending out customer service notification emails. I got mine this morning.

Sony admitted in today’s SOE security press release that on 16th and 17th April 2011 hackers may have acquired the following information from ~24.6 million SOE accounts.

Personal information potentially stolen:

• name
• address
• e-mail address
• birthdate
• gender
• phone number
• login name
• hashed password

On top of this, 12,700 non-U.S credit/debit card numbers and expiration dates (but not credit card security codes) and 10,700 direct debit records from Austria, Germany, Netherlands and Spain have also potentially been stolen from an “outdated” 2007 database.

Additional information potentially stolen from these 10,700 direct debit records include:

• bank account number
• customer name
• account name
• customer address

What’s SOE doing about this mess?

SOE have turned off all their game servers and have hired a security firm to conduct a full investigation into the incident. They have enhanced security and strengthened their network infrastructure. SOE have also said that it will grant customers 30 days of additional time on their subscriptions, and compensate them one day for each day the system is down.

“Additionally, the company is committed to helping its customers protect their personal data and will provide a complimentary offering to assist users in enrolling in identity theft protection services and/or similar programs. The implementation will be at a local level and further details will be made available shortly in each region.”

As soon as SOE announce what these programs are will post the details. If you are worried then you could follow the suggestions in our Sony’s PSN Hacked – What Should You Do?

If you live in the UK, CIFAS have a Protective Registration service will help protect your name and personal details from misuse for £12 + VAT per year. With any luck, this will be the sort of service for which Sony will provide assistance. We’ll update this post as soon as we know more.