Sony repels attempts to access 93,000 online accounts [Updated]

Sony has revealed it has suffered more issues with its online data. A third party tried to sign in to and access 93,000 active accounts on its PlayStation and other networks this month.

The company said it had frozen the accounts and informed affected customers by email, according to Reuters, while Sony has confirmed its belief that only a few accounts were accessed.

Philip Reitinger, Sony’s chief information officer, revealed more information about the attempted access in a post on the PlayStation blog.

Less than one tenth of one percent (0.1%) of our PSN, SEN and SOE audience may have been affected. There were approximately 93,000 accounts globally (PSN/SEN: approximately 60,000 accounts; SOE: approximately 33,000) where the attempts succeeded in verifying those accounts’ valid sign-in IDs and passwords, and we have temporarily locked these accounts. Only a small fraction of these 93,000 accounts showed additional activity prior to being locked.

The technology giant has suffered a number of hacks into its online data this year, most recently when its PlayStation network was hacked in May, despite the company’s denials.

June saw Spanish police arrest three members of online activist group Anonymous, who were alleged to have been involved in attacking Sony’s PlayStation Network, among other targets.

On this occasion, Sony’s security and response has stood up to the attacks. Together with its public response – through a prompt statement and blog post – this represents an improvement on how it dealt with the issues that developed earlier this year.