# Playstation network compromised, customer details stolen **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [April 26, 2011, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/playstation-network-compromised-customer-details-stolen/579839 "2011-04-26T23:53:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![sohvan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/96bed5/32.png) [@sohvan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sohvan)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2011, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/playstation-network-compromised-customer-details-stolen/579839/1 "2011-04-26T23:53:21Z")
I noticed there was already a post in the PS3 thread about this, but I thought a new thread might not be a bad idea for more visibility. The Playstation network has been compromised, and pretty much all customer data has been stolen. This includes but is not limited to: > [@](#): > > name, address (city, state, zip), country, email address, birthdate, PlayStation Network/Qriocity password and login, and handle/PSN online ID. It is also possible that your profile data, including purchase history and billing address (city, state, zip), and your PlayStation Network/Qriocity password security answers may have been obtained. They also say that while there’s no evidence of credit card data being stolen, they can’t rule out the possibility, and say: > [@](#): > > 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. You can read more [here](http://blog.us.playstation.com/2011/04/26/update-on-playstation-network-and-qriocity/). If you’ve used the service and given them your credit card information, I’d at the very least contact your bank to make sure you’re alright. ---
**Author:** ![Merneith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/57b2e6/32.png) [@Merneith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merneith)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2011, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/playstation-network-compromised-customer-details-stolen/579839/2 "2011-04-27T15:04:22Z")
A bump for the daytime crowd. I agree that people affected should request a new credit card and change their online passwords (and never reuse passwords at sites where you buy stuff on other sites.) Using gift cards instead of entering your credit card number is a smart choice too, not just for games, but places like iTunes. Disposable credit card numbers work too. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2011, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/playstation-network-compromised-customer-details-stolen/579839/3 "2011-04-27T15:11:52Z")
A news report last night (the local NBC affiliate) said they’ve known about the scope of the data breach for seven (several?) days but only just told the public yesterday. :mad: I got the e-mail this morning. I’m not even sure if I remember my PSN password. I do know that the card I had linked to the account is expired (got an updated one since), so using it wouldn’t work. ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2011, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/playstation-network-compromised-customer-details-stolen/579839/4 "2011-04-27T15:15:14Z")
Yeah. I’m not happy about this. As I understand it, millions of users may have had their information compromised … but they didn’t get the 3 digit security codes from the backs of credit cards. Like that will cause more than speed bump to a creative criminal. I switched banks about a year ago and went through disorganized hell trying to get my debit card straightened away with some auto-pay bills. Seems, I’ll be going through that shit again. ---
**Author:** ![RyJae](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9d8465/32.png) [@RyJae](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RyJae)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2011, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/playstation-network-compromised-customer-details-stolen/579839/5 "2011-04-27T15:21:24Z")
I have sent an email requesting that Sony pay for a credit monitoring of their choosing, this was suggested by a gaming blog. I don’t know if it is likely to happen but it is something to try. ---
**Author:** ![enomaj](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/59ef9b/32.png) [@enomaj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enomaj)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2011, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/playstation-network-compromised-customer-details-stolen/579839/6 "2011-04-27T16:43:29Z")
Luckily I already have a new debit card on the way due to a broken magnetic strip. Sony has a serious problem with communication. Their posts are always some form of we’re aware/looking into it and that’s it ---
**Author:** ![eno801](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c2a13f/32.png) [@eno801](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eno801)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2011, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/playstation-network-compromised-customer-details-stolen/579839/7 "2011-04-27T19:27:14Z")
would this affect me? i bought some resident evil titles for the psp was that part of the playstation network. i don’t think i even remember the login. I had to download some sony program to my pc. All this was about a year ago. ---
**Author:** ![fusoya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecccb3/32.png) [@fusoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fusoya)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2011, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/playstation-network-compromised-customer-details-stolen/579839/8 "2011-04-27T22:13:30Z")
Are you telling me that online gamers are going through a whole week of withdrawl? Nope, because they all play xbox/PC. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2011, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/playstation-network-compromised-customer-details-stolen/579839/9 "2011-04-27T22:18:47Z")
> [@fusoya](#): > > Are you telling me that online gamers are going through a whole week of withdrawl? > > Nope, because they all play xbox/PC. :dubious: This pertains to anyone who’s bought content online from Sony; online gamer or no. I do my online gaming on the PC, but I’ve purchased songs via the PSN for Rock Band. ---
**Author:** ![RandMcnally](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b782af/32.png) [@RandMcnally](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RandMcnally)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2011, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/playstation-network-compromised-customer-details-stolen/579839/10 "2011-04-27T22:19:52Z")
And I can’t watch my Hulu or Netflix on my tv. Hulu did give a weeks credit though, which was nice of them. ---
**Author:** ![pricciar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f4b2a3/32.png) [@pricciar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pricciar)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2011, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/playstation-network-compromised-customer-details-stolen/579839/11 "2011-04-27T23:08:52Z")
Netflix works fine for me. When you first start the Netflix application it asks you to sign in. When it fails, the application keeps going. When it loads up fully you are asked to log in again, and when it fails you are able to play the Netflix content. [MLB.tv](http://MLB.tv), on the other hand, isn’t working and that sucks. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2011, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/playstation-network-compromised-customer-details-stolen/579839/12 "2011-04-28T00:56:52Z")
> [@fusoya](#): > > Are you telling me that online gamers are going through a whole week of withdrawl? > > Nope, because they all play xbox/PC. fusoya, I’ve really enjoyed your NES series - but this fanboy garbage is beneath you. Everyone gets tired of video game discussions devolving into “mine’s better than yours” - but that usually happens around page 3, why debase yourself that quickly? ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2011, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/playstation-network-compromised-customer-details-stolen/579839/13 "2011-04-28T01:06:12Z")
> [@fusoya](#): > > Are you telling me that online gamers are going through a whole week of withdrawl? [At least one PS3 has been a shiny black paperweight for the past few days.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=13720085&postcount=13) ---
**Author:** ![fusoya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecccb3/32.png) [@fusoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fusoya)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2011, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/playstation-network-compromised-customer-details-stolen/579839/14 "2011-04-28T04:36:45Z")
I wasn’t fanboying (the only current-gen system I own is the DS, and I _NEVER_ do online gaming with it. Lousy cheaters.). Xbox just seems to have a much better handle on the online gaming market. Heck, it was nearly impossible to even FIND the network adapter for the PS2…I don’t know how much better things are with the PS3, but from everything I’ve heard, Xbox 360 is the system to get if you want to do online gaming. And my point is, Microsoft can manage their system without incidents like this. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2011, 11:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/playstation-network-compromised-customer-details-stolen/579839/15 "2011-04-28T11:33:59Z")
> [@fusoya](#): > > And my point is, Microsoft can manage their system without incidents like this. So far. And what exactly is the point of coming into a warning thread and posting something like that? It comes off as a “LOLz, you idiots deserve it” driveby. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2011, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/playstation-network-compromised-customer-details-stolen/579839/16 "2011-04-28T13:10:41Z")
> [@fusoya](#): > > I wasn’t fanboying… Sorry - I misspelled “threadshitting”. ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2011, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/playstation-network-compromised-customer-details-stolen/579839/17 "2011-04-28T16:37:03Z")
> [@fusoya](#): > > Xbox just seems to have a much better handle on the online gaming market. Heck, it was nearly impossible to even FIND the network adapter for the PS2…I don’t know how much better things are with the PS3, but from everything I’ve heard, Xbox 360 is the system to get if you want to do online gaming. And my point is, Microsoft can manage their system without incidents like this. Although X-Box Live has never had such a serious outage (which is all caused by cheating/game pirating hackers who got all butthurt that they wouldn’t be allowed to cheat/pirate games the easier way,) it has been down for a total time more than PSN, IIRC. PSN seems to be more consistently stable, whereas XBL always seems to be down for a little while here, a little while there (note: this is all anecdotal, I don’t have a 360.) But XBL also costs money, at least to get any decent usage out of it (even getting Netflix to work on it requires XBL Gold, which makes no sense…you’re already paying for Netflix, why should you also have to pay MS?.) So, in theory at least, MS has more money on hand to keep the network secure and such. However, actually _getting_ a PS3 online is much easier than a 360. PS3 (except for the very first model, IIRC) has built in wireless and wired ethernet, and only the most recent 360 has built in wireless…before that, you had to purchase a $100 adapter, which was clearly nothing but money grubbing from MS. But overall I will agree that XBL is the better online experience for multiplayer and such. As to the PSN compromise, I’m glad I took my card off of it a few months ago. Initially I had it saved, but something prompted me to delete it off the network a while ago and since then I was just entering it in for each transaction I did and asked it not to save the info…I’ll still be monitoring it to make sure nothing happened, but I should be safe. On top of that, I doubt any CC info that may have been stolen can even be used. First off, Sony isn’t saying CC info _was_ stolen, just that they can’t 100% rule out that it wasn’t. Secondly, it’s encrypted on their server, and thirdly, they didn’t get the 3-digit security codes. So while someone who was very keen on using the stolen number might be able to parse something out, I doubt any of them will. These weren’t identify thieves using the network/stealing info, they were just hackers/pirates who wanted to “send Sony a message” :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Airk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9de053/32.png) [@Airk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airk)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2011, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/playstation-network-compromised-customer-details-stolen/579839/18 "2011-04-28T16:47:45Z")
> [@bouv](#): > > Although X-Box Live has never had such a serious outage (which is all caused by cheating/game pirating hackers who got all butthurt that they wouldn’t be allowed to cheat/pirate games the easier way,) it has been down for a total time more than PSN, IIRC. PSN seems to be more consistently stable, whereas XBL always seems to be down for a little while here, a little while there (note: this is all anecdotal, I don’t have a 360.) Erm, anecdotal and fundamentally contrary to my experience as an ACTUAL 360 owner who uses the service, and can say that, to my memory, it has never been down outside of scheduled maintenance since I started using it more than two years ago. Humorously though, when I did some googling, it seems like the last downtime they had was RIGHT BEFORE I got my console. > [@](#): > > But XBL also costs money, at least to get any decent usage out of it (even getting Netflix to work on it requires XBL Gold, which makes no sense…you’re already paying for Netflix, why should you also have to pay MS?.) So, in theory at least, MS has more money on hand to keep the network secure and such. Which seems to bear out the “you get what you pay for” hypothesis, eh? > [@](#): > > On top of that, I doubt any CC info that may have been stolen can even be used. First off, Sony isn’t saying CC info _was_ stolen, just that they can’t 100% rule out that it wasn’t. Secondly, it’s encrypted on their server, and thirdly, they didn’t get the 3-digit security codes. So while someone who was very keen on using the stolen number might be able to parse something out, I doubt any of them will. These weren’t identify thieves using the network/stealing info, they were just hackers/pirates who wanted to “send Sony a message” :rolleyes: I don’t know that this is a safe assumption. A many sites still don’t even require the 3 digit security code to use a credit card. Encryption can be broken. No one knows the goals of the thieves right now. This definitely falls into the category of “better safe than sorry” if you ask me. ---
**Author:** ![eno801](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c2a13f/32.png) [@eno801](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eno801)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2011, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/playstation-network-compromised-customer-details-stolen/579839/19 "2011-04-28T17:18:41Z")
> [@](#): > > Although X-Box Live has never had such a serious outage (which is all caused by cheating/game pirating hackers who got all butthurt that they wouldn’t be allowed to cheat/pirate games the easier way,) it has been down for a total time more than PSN, IIRC. PSN seems to be more consistently stable, whereas XBL always seems to be down for a little while here, a little while there (note: this is all anecdotal, I don’t have a 360.) yeah when come back bring facts. I have been xbox live member since almost the beginning (have a little 6 by my name :p) and the longest it has been down for me in that time is let me see… 0 hrs. I might have lagged out of a game once or twice I think when they got overloaded one Christmas but that’s about it. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2011, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/playstation-network-compromised-customer-details-stolen/579839/20 "2011-04-28T17:24:21Z")
> [@eno801](#): > > yeah when come back bring facts. I have been xbox live member since almost the beginning (have a little 6 by my name :p) and the longest it has been down for me in that time is let me see… 0 hrs. I might have lagged out of a game once or twice I think when they got overloaded one Christmas but that’s about it. [http://www.engadget.com/2008/01/03/xbox-live-outage-day-13-still-up-and-down-still-preventing-fu/](http://www.engadget.com/2008/01/03/xbox-live-outage-day-13-still-up-and-down-still-preventing-fu/) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/playstation-network-compromised-customer-details-stolen/579839.md?page=2)