The online marketplace launched in autumn 2006 and allows users to purchase and play video games, music and films on their PlayStation consoles. The company said that it saw no evidence that credit card numbers were stolen, but it added: "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 previous largest hacking attacks were on Heartland Payment Systems in January 2009, when up to 100m US credit and debit card details were stolen, and TK Maxx in March 2007, when up to 46m credit card details were stolen. Sony's PSN is one of the world's biggest holders of credit cards, though not as large as Amazon, eBay, PayPal or Apple's iTunes, which each hold more than 100m accounts. The intrusion is potentially one of the biggest ever into a store of credit cards. The company is also emailing people who might be affected. Sony said it discovered that between 17 and 19 April an "illegal and unauthorised person" got access to people's names, addresses, email address, birthdates, usernames, passwords, logins, security questions and more.Ĭhildren with accounts established by their parents also may have had their data exposed, according to Sony, which put the warning on its US PlayStation blog – although the warning about the compromise might not be immediately visible to passing readers. Gamers have been locked out of the network for a week, but the company has revealed that the system has been suspended since it was hacked last Wednesday. Sony has warned that the names, addresses and other personal data of about 77 million people with accounts on its PlayStation Network (PSN) have been stolen.