Both the Sony PSN and SOE have undergone exhaustive attacks recently.
Direct from SOE:
This information, which was discovered by engineers and security consultants reviewing SOE systems, showed that personal information from approximately 24.6 million SOE accounts may have been stolen, as well as certain information from an outdated database from 2007. The information from the outdated database that may have been stolen includes approximately 12,700 non-U.S. credit or debit card numbers and expiration dates (but not credit card security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)[/b], and about 10,700 direct debit records of certain customers in Austria, Germany, Netherlands and Spain.
http://www.soe.com/securityupdate/pressrelease.vm
Those direct-debit accounts included bank account information.
If you had the same username or password information for SOE/PSN that you did with STO, I'd recommend the below:
If you have an account through either service:
- ensure your password and username are different from any other online vendor (update if they aren't)
- notify government fraud agencies
- check bank account statements for minor (but unexplained) charges (these often precipitate larger identity theft)
- order new cards, if your information on SOE accounts would still be valid.
Comments
(interview conducted between Massively//Joystiq and Ryan Peters of SONY PR). Interviewer's question in Dark Orange.
Sony can NOT be trusted to deliver any well developed and thoughtfully engineered products
on ANY level!
This includes their once dominant BetaCam series ENG camcorders that they sold for
thousands and thousands of dollars.
It does not matter if you are a consumer or Corporate client such as CTV, ABC, CNN, etc...
The worst, and most egregious, examples of consumer bait and switch when it comes to
products and services can be attributed to one company only and that is SONY.
Avoid ANY Sony products for life, seek out better, less expensive alternatives offering more
functionality, better engineering and a much more well thought out layout in every aspect.
Especially avoid all visual electronics from Sony, your are buying junk, badly formed and
terribly engineered products. On ANY level.
I'm inclinded to agree with this. If you can't afford XBOX Live, then look at the Wii. Nintendo isn't stupid when it comes to customer relations and security and Microsoft basically charges you for it as XBOX Live Gold. Blu-Ray players are a dime a dozen now for decent brands, one being Samsung.
1. Tales of Vesperia Complete, should it ever come stateside.
2. Tales of Graces
3. Tales of Xillia...maybe
4. Valkyria Chronicles
5. Disgaea 3
6. Disgaea 4
7. Persona 5