The PlayStation Incident: What You Can Do

The Sony PlayStation is one of the world’s most popular gaming systems. With a sprawling network that links tens of millions of users, gamers can play against opponents anywhere in the world. What is good for gamers turned out to be great for hackers last week, after someone was able to infiltrate the Sony network, stealing account information for nearly 80 million users.

Sony continues to investigate the incident, but has notified users that their name, address, birthday, email address, and PlayStation Network ID and password have all been compromised. The company remains unsure if credit card information may have been stolen. What makes this incident really interesting is that your password and the “secret questions” you answered to verify your password were hacked. You know the questions: What was your high school mascot? What is your mother’s maiden name? If you filled out those questions when registering your PlayStation Network account, someone now has the answers.

This is one of the biggest data breaches we’ve ever seen, not only in terms of the number of people affected, but in the type of information that has been stolen. If you’re one of the millions of people affected by the Sony PlayStation incident, here are a few things you should do.

CHANGE YOUR PASSWORDS. Studies routinely show that consumers use the same password across multiple sites. If you used your PlayStation network password on other sites, change it immediately. We recommend using a different password for every site you visit that requires one.

CHANGE YOUR ANSWERS. Many sites have security questions that help let them know you are who you say you are in the event you lose or forget your password. Most sites let you choose from a variety of questions. Change the questions you use, but if you can’t, change your answer to the questions you already use.

MONITOR YOUR CREDIT CARD AND BANK ACCOUNTS. Remember, Sony isn’t sure if your credit card information was stolen. But even if it wasn’t, anyone armed with your name, address, and birthdate has a few great tools to try stealing your identity. Watch your account statements closely. If you notice any strange activity, contact your credit card company or bank at once. Gamers may want to consider canceling the card they used to set up their PlayStation account, just to be safe.

DON’T BE FOOLED. When your data is stolen, someone now has easy ways to attempt phishing scams. Beware of any emails that ask you for more information about your identity, even if they appear to be from legitimate businesses or organizations. Don’t give out your personal information in email solicitations.