Post date: Jun 03, 2011 11:54:33 AM
Hacker group Lulz Security says it accessed a million Sony customer accounts, posts information on its website.
JAPAN-SONY HACKERS - Confidence in Japan's Sony was further undermined after a hacker group said it stole the personal information of more than a million customers.
Lulz Security, says it broke into the servers of Sony Pictures Entertainment, and published the information on its website.
At least part of the information is accurate, after Reuters contacted several people using phone numbers taken from list.
The latest breach came as as Sony executives were trying to reassure U.S. lawmakers at a hearing on data security in Washington about their efforts to safeguard the company's computer networks.
The firm suffered its biggest security breach in history in April after unknown hackers accessed personal information from 77 million of its PlayStation and Qriocity accounts.
Sony took a week to inform customers of the breach.
Keita Wakabayashi from Mito Securities says he's surprised Sony hasn't learned its lesson from the previous attack.
MITO SECURITIES RESEARH CHIEF KEITA WAKABAYASHI SAYING.
"If this attack is indeed true, then I'm sure that the damage to the brand and trust will be big and negative. While the first time was unexpected, this time they should have had some sort of preparations in place."
LulzSec also claims attacks on U.S. TV network PBS, and broke into a Fox.com website where it published data about contestants for the upcoming Fox TV talent show, the "X Factor".
The latest breach comes amid rising high profile cyber attacks, with recent breaching attempts against defense contractor Lockheed Martin as well Google's gmail service.
Both attacks appear to have originated in China, although Beijing has flatly denied the allegations.
Arnold Gay Reuters