Personal Data, And Maybe Credit Card Numbers, Of 77 Million Sony PlayStation Users Is Hacked Hot

It's bad enough that the system has been shut down since April 21. But making matters worse is the fact that since then Sony remained silent about why.

On Tuesday, Sony came clean and disclosed in a blog post that names, addresses, emails, birthdates, as well as PlayStation network login/passwords, handles, and password security answers were exposed during an illicit intrusion between April 17 and and April 19.

And, by the way, the hackers may also have gotten credit card numbers and expsiration dates.

"While there is no evidence at this time that credit card data was taken, we cannot rule out the possibility," Sony says. "If you have provided your credit card data through PlayStation Network or Qriocity, out of an abundance of caution we are advising you that your credit card number (excluding security code) and expiration date may have been obtained."

If you have a PlayStation account, keep an eye out for any fraudulent activity of your credit cards. If your children set up the account, ask them to change their password. Also, if you used the PlayStation password for other accounts, change the passwords on those accounts as well. 

This data breach is so big and the hackers appear to have gotten to so much information that it is bound to promote outrage and concern in by regulators.

The FBI in San Diego has reportedly been called in to investigate.

The fact that Sony did not disclose the breach for nearly a week atfer learning seems inexcusable. I don't understand how that could not be a violation of federal law.

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