SONY PSN SENDS OUT BREACH NOTIFICATION EMAILS
The Sony Play Station Network (PSN) recently experienced a data breach. Since the breach, Sony has begun to e-mail those affected by the breach. Here is the Sony PSN breach notification email:
From: PlayStation Network <PlayStation_Network@playstation-email.com>
Date:
To:
Subject: Important information regarding PlayStation Network and Qriocity services
Add PlayStation_Network@playstation-email.com to your address book
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PlayStation(R)Network
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Valued PlayStation(R)Network/Qriocity Customer:
We have discovered that between April 17 and April 19, 2011, certain PlayStation Network and Qriocity service user account information was compromised in connection with an illegal and unauthorized intrusion into our network. In response to this intrusion, we have:
1) Temporarily turned off PlayStation Network and Qriocity services;
2) Engaged an outside, recognized security firm to conduct a full and complete investigation into what happened; and
3) Quickly taken steps to enhance security and strengthen our network infrastructure by rebuilding our system to provide you with greater protection of your personal information.
We greatly appreciate your patience, understanding and goodwill as we do whatever it takes to resolve these issues as quickly and efficiently as practicable.
Although we are still investigating the details of this incident, we believe that an unauthorized person has obtained the following information that you provided: 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. If you have authorized a sub-account for your dependent, the same data with respect to your dependent may have been obtained. While there is no evidence at this time that credit card data was taken, we cannot rule out the possibility. 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.
For your security, we encourage you to be especially aware of email, telephone and postal mail scams that ask for personal or sensitive information. Sony will not contact you in any way, including by email, asking for your credit card number, social security number or other personally identifiable information. If you are asked for this information, you can be confident Sony is not the entity asking. When the PlayStation Network and Qriocity services are fully restored, we strongly recommend that you log on and change your password. Additionally, if you
use your PlayStation Network or Qriocity user name or password for other unrelated services or accounts, we strongly recommend that you change them as well.
To protect against possible identity theft or other financial loss, we encourage you to remain vigilant, to review your account statements and to monitor your credit reports. We are providing the following information for those who wish to consider it: – U.S. residents are entitled under
U.S. law to one free credit report annually from each of the three major credit bureaus. To order your free credit report, visit www.annualcreditreport.com or call toll-free (877) 322-8228.
– We have also provided names and contact information for the three major U.S. credit bureaus below. At no charge, U.S. residents can have these credit bureaus place a “fraud alert” on your file that alerts creditors to take additional steps to verify your identity prior to granting credit in
your name. This service can make it more difficult for someone to get credit in your name. Note, however, that because it tells creditors to follow certain procedures to protect you, it also may delay your ability to obtain credit while the agency verifies your identity. As soon as one credit bureau confirms your fraud alert, the others are notified to place fraud alerts on your file. Should you wish to place a fraud alert, or should you have any questions regarding your credit report, please contact any one of the agencies listed below:
Experian: 888-397-3742; www.experian.com; P.O. Box 9532, Allen, TX 75013
Equifax: 800-525-6285; www.equifax.com; P.O. Box 740241, Atlanta, GA
30374-0241 TransUnion: 800-680-7289; www.transunion.com; Fraud Victim
Assistance Division, P.O. Box 6790, Fullerton, CA 92834-6790
– You may wish to visit the website of the U.S. Federal Trade Commission at www.consumer.gov/idtheft or reach the FTC at 1-877-382-4357 or 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20580 for further information about how to protect yourself from identity theft. Your state Attorney General may also have advice on preventing identity theft, and you should report instances of known or suspected identity theft to law enforcement, your State Attorney General, and the FTC. For North Carolina residents, the Attorney General can be contacted at 9001 Mail Service Center, Raleigh, NC 27699-9001; telephone (877) 566-7226; or www.ncdoj.gov. For Maryland residents, the Attorney General can be contacted at 200 St. Paul
Place, 16th Floor, Baltimore, MD 21202; telephone: (888) 743-0023; or www.oag.state.md.us.
We thank you for your patience as we complete our investigation of this incident, and we regret any inconvenience. Our teams are working around the clock on this, and services will be restored as soon as possible. Sony takes information protection very seriously and will continue to work to
ensure that additional measures are taken to protect personally identifiable information. Providing quality and secure entertainment services to our customers is our utmost priority. Please contact us at 1-800-345-7669 should you have any additional questions.
Sincerely,
Sony Computer Entertainment and Sony Network Entertainment
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LEGAL
“PlayStation” and the “PS” Family logo are registered trademarks and “PS3” and “PlayStation Network” are trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. (C) 2011 Sony Computer Entertainment America LLC.
Sony Computer Entertainment America LLC
919 E. Hillsdale Blvd., Foster City, CA 94404
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Contrary to Sony’s e-mail, Sony customers who receive the breach notification e-mail should NOT request their report from annualcreditreport.com Why? Because you are already entitled to a free credit report regardless of the data breach! However, now, because your personal identifying information has been exposed in this data breach, you also have a right to request a free report due to fraud or identity theft! Consumers should not make a request through the centralized source, Central Source (aka Annual Credit report Request Service).
Instead, consumers should contact the CRAs and let them know that they believe they are a victim of fraud or identity theft and should request their free credit file disclosure from each of the credit bureaus – Equifax, Experian and Trans Union.
After you receive your credit report from each of the bureaus you should review the credit reports for errors, including name mis-spellings, incorrect addresses, employers, accounts and inquiries. If you have any questions, contact consumer credit lawyer Micah Adkins for a free consultation.