I don’t really do much in the way of general tech/gaming news on Global Geek News anymore but this is important enough that I need to make an exception.  As I am sure most all of you are aware by now, Sony’s PlayStation Network has been down for several days due to somebody hacking into the popular service.  Although Sony is still really tight lipped about the details of what has happened, they are now saying that the user account information of those with a PlayStation Network account has been compromised including your name, billing information, email address, password and just about all of the other data they may have from you.  Although they don’t think the database of credit card information was accessed, they can’t be certain so they are urging extreme caution.  Below is a snippet of the information they just posted over on the official PlayStation Blog which you need to go read if you have a PlayStation Network account (which is likely if you own a PS3 or PSP).  This is quite the security breach!

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.

I’m not sure if it is possible to change your password while the PSN is down but if it is, I highly recommend doing it ASAP! I plan on doing it as soon as I get home although luckily I don’t use that password for anything else and can’t even remember it most of the time anyway.