Hackers steal personal data from 77 million PlayStation users

Sony Corp. (6758) warned its 77 million PlayStation Network and Qriocity online service customers that their credit-card data, billing addresses and other personal information may have been stolen by a hacker.

"While there is no evidence at this time that credit-card data was taken, we cannot rule out the possibility," Patrick Seybold, a Sony spokesman, said on the company blog page. The hacker obtained user-provided names, e-mail addresses, birth dates, log-in information and purchase history, Seybold said, Bloomberg reports.

Sony is likely to face questions about when it knew that customer data had been stolen and why it waited so long before issuing a statement.

The company said it had "no evidence" that credit card data had been obtained but was warning people "out of an abundance of caution".

Rik Ferguson, a senior adviser at the computer security firm Trend Micro, said gamers may have good reason for concern. He said: "People should keep a closer eye than usual on their bank and credit card accounts," Telegraph.co.uk reports.