Sony PlayStation Network hacked, personal information compromised

LEHI — Hackers broke into the Sony Playstation Network on April 19 and personal information – such as names, addresses and even credit card numbers — from 77 million PlayStation subscribers worldwide may be compromised.

Like many families, the Pollards enjoy playing video games. But last week, they noticed there was a problem with the PlayStation Network and then Tuesday found out what that problem was.

“Last night we got an email saying to be careful, said Alicia Pollard, “that our personal information was susceptible to the people who had hacked it.”

And it's not just video games we are talking about; many people use the PlayStation to download movies.

Experts say anyone who owns a Sony PlayStation should know their personal information is at risk.

"It started out what seemed like some kind of an interruption of service to PlayStation's online network, their gaming network,” said Neal O’Farrell, founder of Identity Theft Council. “But then, probably within a day of that Sony came out and said it was something much more serious."

It's the second time in the past month that a major company has admitted customers' information has been compromised. Someone hacked into the email system of a Texas-based company called Epsilon. It handles customer communications for hundreds of corporations. Epsilon sends out billions of emails a year for more than 2,500 clients. Those companies include Barclays Bank, JPMorgan Chase, Ameriprise Financial Inc., Best Buy, TiVo and Kroger.

"It's not just the Epsilon breach a week ago where it was just a name and an email address that could be used for spamming or phishing emails, but this could include names, home addresses, email, billing information,” O’Farrell explained.

For families like the Pollards, it is just the latest privacy concern they have to worry about.

"(It’s) one more thing to make sure we are careful with and make sure people don't get our information,” Pollard said, “but I don't think it will cause us to quit playing the PlayStation ever, not in this family."

Sony is advising its customers to change passwords and also monitor their credit card statements to ensure there are no unauthorized charges.