SAN FRANCISCO — Sony Corp. said Tuesday a hacker had obtained customer information, possibly including credit-card numbers, of members of its online PlayStation Network, a potential problem for the quickly growing field of online gaming.
The Japanese electronics giant said it is informing its 77 million PSN customers that personal information — including names, addresses, billing history and birthdays — was obtained by an "unauthorized person" following a hacking attack that prompted Sony to shut down its Internet gaming service last week.
Sony said customer credit-card numbers may also have been compromised, though the company said it was still unclear just how much information had been obtained.
"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," the company said in a statement.
The security breach comes amid rapid growth in online gaming. Fueled by fast Internet connections, online gaming has been transformed from a niche segment into one of the videogame industry's most rapidly growing sectors.
Videogames like Activision Blizzard Inc.'s "World Of Warcraft" have attracted millions of customers who pay regular fees in order to have access to the game. Alongside the many Internet-based videogames, most modern titles have online components that allow customers to chat and play against one another as well as download additional content.
The average amount of time per week gamers spent playing online posted a 10% annual jump to eight hours in 2010, according to a survey by NPD Group, a research boutique. More than half of all gamers play videogames online, according to NPD's report.
Playing videogames online requires users to share personal and financial information with the videogame companies, however, which use it for billing and member identification.
Michael Pachter, an analyst at Wedbush Morgan Securities, said the breach might make some customers feel uneasy, but that U.S. law would protect consumers in the country if the information were misused.
"No one's losing any money," Pachter said. However, he said "everybody's got a huge headache" because they will have to rigorously watch their financial statements.
Indeed, comments on Sony's PlayStation Facebook page suggested customers were less concerned about potential fraud than they were about the lost game time.
"I just want to play my new game," a Facebook user identifying himself as Ryan Knight wrote on Sony's page.
Sony said the hacking attack was discovered between April 17 and April 19, prompting the game maker to shut down its network. In response, Sony said it has hired a security firm to conduct an investigation into what had happened.
In the meantime, Sony said it has taken steps to enhance security and that it expects to restore its Internet gaming service within a week.
