Sony says hacker may have stolen information from 24.6 million additional accounts

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Sony said Monday afternoon hackers may have stolen personal information from 24.6 million customer accounts registered at its Sony Online Entertainment game subsidiary in San Diego.

The compromised accounts were in addition to the 77 million accounts whose information was stolen between April 17 and April 19 on Sony’s PlayStation Network, an online game and entertainment service for its PlayStation 3 console.

In addition, hackers were able to access credit card data from 12,700 credit cards and 10,700 direct debit accounts of non-U.S. customers who played Sony Online Entertainment’s games, which include EverQuest 2 and Free Realms. Sony disclosed the details on its website.

The Japanese company suspended the online game service Sunday because of an intrusion into the company’s computers. It had already shut down PlayStation Network on April 20.

Sony’s forensic detectives are continuing to investigate the extent of the break-in, a process that could yield additional surprises over the next few days as the company works with the FBI to track down the intruder.

-- Alex Pham