Sony foils hacking attempt on PSN, SOE networks

Nearly half a year since falling victim to a series of hack attacks, Sony claimed Wednesday (Manila time) to have caught and foiled an attempt to hack into its Sony Entertainment Network, PlayStation Network and Sony Online Entertainment services. Sony SVP and chief information security officer Philip Reitinger said the attacks attempted to sign in using data obtained from "compromised lists" from other companies, sites or other sources. "Less than one-tenth of one percent (0.1%) of our PSN, SEN and SOE audience may have been affected. There were approximately 93,000 accounts globally (PSN/SEN: approximately 60,000 accounts; SOE: approximately 33,000) where the attempts succeeded in verifying those accounts’ valid sign-in IDs and passwords, and we have temporarily locked these accounts," he said in a blog post. He added only a small fraction of these 93,000 accounts showed additional activity prior to being locked. Those with credit card numbers for their account were assured their credit card numbers are not at risk. Reitinger said they will work with any users who may have been victims of unauthorized purchases. "We are currently reviewing those accounts for unauthorized access, and will provide more updates as we have them," he added. Preventive measure As a preventative measure, Sony required secure password resets for those PSN/SEN accounts that had both a sign-in ID and password match through this attempt. "If you are in the small group of PSN/SEN users who may have been affected, you will receive an email from us at the address associated with your account that will prompt you to reset your password," Reitinger said. Similarly, he said the SOE accounts that were matched have been temporarily turned off. Affected users will receive an email that will advise them on the steps to validate their account credentials and have their accounts turned back on. Reitinger reminded consumers about the increasingly common threat of fraudulent activity online, as well as the importance of having a strong password and having a username/password combination that is not associated with other online services or sites. "We encourage you to choose unique, hard-to-guess passwords and always look for unusual activity in your account," he said. — TJD, GMA News