77 mil. user info may have leaked from PlayStation Network+

TOKYO, April 27 Kyodo -
Sony Corp. said Wednesday personal information on all 77 million users of its PlayStation Network services around the world may have been leaked by a hacker, possibly including credit card numbers, and called on users to regularly monitor their credit card bills.
The electronics giant said it ''cannot rule out the possibility'' that credit card data were compromised as a result of the breach of the online network for PlayStation game players and the music and video service Qriocity, in what could be the worst-ever case of an information leak involving a Japanese company.
While noting there is no evidence so far that credit card information has leaked, the firm urged users of PlayStation Network or Qriocity to change their user names or passwords of other digital accounts if they are the same as those for the Sony services, citing the possibility of their unauthorized use.
The data leakage is likely to deal a heavy blow to the company, which has been working on a strategy to have game consoles and televisions linked to the network.
While the incident could develop into a compensation issue, there is a growing criticism in the United States that Sony was slow in disclosing information.
The company said it believes an unauthorized person obtained the personal information, including names, addresses, e-mail addresses, birthdates and passwords, by unlawfully accessing the systems between April 17 and 19.
It has temporarily shut down the network services since last week, has asked an outside security firm to conduct a full investigation into the incident and has moved swiftly to enhance security and strengthen its network infrastructure, the company said.
On its official Japanese PlayStation Network website, it said, ''We deeply apologize'' for the data leak.
As of March 20, there were 77 million accounts for the services offered in about 60 countries, including the United States, according to the firm. It is estimated the services have around 9 million users in Japan.
The hacking occurred in the system for Sony's game and movie distribution services, which the company has been promoting to compete with Apple Inc., a forerunner in the integration of hardware and software.
The company says it discovered the intrusion on April 20, but it wasn't until Tuesday that the full scope of the data leak became known.
According to one U.S. media outlet, there have been complaints from Sony's online game users who made payments in advance, and the Associated Press reported it could cost Sony billions of dollars in compensation.
Game fans in Tokyo's Akihabara shopping district were shocked by the news.
''For the past two or three days I had been talking with my friends about being unable to use the network,'' said 19-year-old college student Masashi Matsui. ''I can't believe personal information was leaked.''
Matsui, who bought PlayStation 3 about two years ago, said he registered for the network immediately and has been downloading new games once a month.
''My friends are using the network as it has attractive multifunction services like providing information on games and purchases of trial versions of games,'' he said, adding that he would like the company to restore security as soon as possible.
Masao Taguchi, 22, was also shocked, saying, ''Though information leakage frequently occurs on the Internet, I thought the security of PlayStation was solid.''
Taguchi said he bought dozens of items of game software on the Internet by registering his birth date, e-mail address and home address.
''There is no tangible harm for now, but I'm afraid that the data could be abused on the Internet. I don't feel like using the network for a while,'' he said.
Sony changed its PlayStation-related system in March 2008 due to the possibility that user passwords could be rewritten through unauthorized access, but no damage occurred then.