Sony probing claim hackers stole user information
LONDON
A group of hackers calling itself LulzSec said it has
compromised users' personal information, including passwords, email
addresses, phone numbers, home addresses, dates of birth, and all
Sony opt-in data associated with their accounts.
Sony Pictures, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, said
Thursday it is aware of the LulzSec statement and looking into it.
The data, carried in a plain text file posted to the hacking
group's site, appeared to be at least partially genuine. The
Associated Press called a number listed by LulzSec as belonging to
84-year-old Mary Tanning, a resident of Minnesota. Tanning picked
up the phone, and confirmed the rest of the details listed by
LulzSec -- including her password, which she said she was changing.
"I don't panic," she told the AP, explaining that she was very
seldom online and wasn't wealthy. "There's nothing that they can
pick out of me," she joked.
If officially confirmed, the breach would deal yet another blow
to Sony Corp. which already is facing questions over why it did not
inform consumers more quickly after a massive cyber-attack in April
targeted credit card information through its PlayStation Network
and Sony Online Entertainment network, compromising more than 100
million user accounts.
At the time, experts warned the attack emboldened hackers and
made them more willing to pursue sensitive information.
LulzSec said that none of the data it accessed from Sony was
encrypted, "which means its just a matter of taking it."
"This is disgraceful and insecure," the group said in its
statement. "They were asking for it."
LulzSec recently claimed responsibility for hacking the website
of PBS network to post a fake story in protest of a recent
"Frontline" investigative news program on WikiLeaks.
