Sony admits to second data loss

EMBATTLED GAMING OUTFIT Sony has confessed that personal details belonging to nearly 25m of its online entertainment users might have been stolen by hackers.

Last week the firm reported that the number of affected online gaming users could have been as high as 77m, but according to Sony a third more could be involved.

A further 12,000 individuals might also have had their data compromised in the hack attack, as the company said that an 'outdated' database had also been penetrated. Sony added that the attack most likely happened on April 16 or 17, which was almost two weeks ago.

"This information, which was discovered by engineers and security consultants reviewing SOE systems, showed that personal information from approximately 24.6 million SOE (Sony Online Entertainment) accounts may have been stolen, as well as certain information from an outdated database from 2007," it said.

"The information from the outdated database that may have been stolen includes approximately 12,700 non-U.S. credit or debit card numbers and expiration dates (but not credit card security codes), and about 10,700 direct debit records of certain customers in Austria, Germany, Netherlands and Spain."

The majority of information should be safe, Sony said that while they were not encrypted they were 'hashed', but the 10,700 old users may have had their bank account details, including personal data, stolen. All users are advised to change their personal log-in information, the firm added.

Sony has suspended all SOE services for now. µ