A week after the hacking revelations came to light, Sony admits details of over 1.5 million Australians hit.
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| Sony execs bow in apology. |
“In Australia, the number of PlayStation Network and Qriocity accounts affected amount to 1,560,791,” Sony Australia said.
However, this figure is overstated as many users have registered multiple times, it added.
“This amount also includes sub-accounts and/or multiple accounts per user.”
However, the good news is that so far, there have been “no reports of criminal usage” and less than 20 per cent of this 1.5m figure had credit card details on their accounts, which was encrypted, Sony assured users today.
“Of this number of accounts, approximately 280,000 of these accounts had credit card details.”
“Credit card data was encrypted..but to ensure user security we have made the announcement pro-activity to our valued customers,” it added.
However, one security expert told The Australian that the encryption of credit card details may be irrelevant if hackers stole computer programs that accessed encrypted files. TrendMicro also declined to comment on possible encryption comromises claiming it was too early to say.
After implementing a variety of new security measures, Sony said it plans a “phased restoration” of the services by region.
However Australian executives were in the dark last night about how soon Down Under services would be restored.
“We have had no confirmation of local timing,” spokeswoman Jacqui Christie told CDN last night.
Sony said that since the attack it has engaged a number of expert information security firms, conducted an extensive audit of its system, and implemented a number of new security measures to provide greater protection of personal information.
The consumer electronics giant is expediting a move to a new, more secure datacentre and has created the position of chief information security officer, to concentrate on consumer data protection.
All registered PlayStation Network users will have to change their account passwords before being able to sign back on.
