Leaky Web Sony Says PlayStation2 Customer Info Spill Not a Hacking Incident

Sony Corp. said today that personal data of some customers who had ordered PlayStation2 consoles had been leaked from a Sony Web site after some other customers used passwords to gain access to the information. (ABCNEWS.com)

T O K Y O, March 2  Sony Corp. said today that personal data of some customers who had ordered PlayStation2 consoles had been leaked from a Sony Web site after some other customers used passwords to gain access to the information. The leak, which appears to highlight some of the dangers of e-commerce, comes two days before Sonys hugely popular video game console goes on sale in Japan, a spokeswoman said. Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. (SCE), Sonys home game unit, said its unit PlayStation.com (Japan), which is in charge of online orders of PlayStation2, took steps to stop the leakage 22 minutes after it was discovered on Wednesday. Forty-four customers who logged in the PlayStation.coms site with their own passwords and identification numbers gained information of other customers such as their names, addresses and the amounts of ordered consoles, a SCE spokeswoman said. They did this by typing in other peoples identification numbers, or so-called order numbers, she said. She said information of 266 customers was leaked. But other personal information such as credit card and telephone numbers had been kept in other databases, which had not been broken into, the spokeswoman added. SCE said it discovered the use of incorrect access numbers at around 5 p.m. (0800 GMT) on Wednesday. It was now investigating what had been done with the leaked information. In cases were we find actual damage to our customers privacy, we would take proper actions including payment of compensation, the spokeswoman said. She said Sony was not describing the leak as a hacking incident

http://www.abcnews.go.com/sections/tech/DailyNews/sony000302.html

-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), March 02, 2000