Following the massive PSN security breach and data theft fiasco, Sony teamed with Debix to provide everyone affected with 12 months of identity theft protection. The cutoff date for redeeming this offer was June 28, 2011. Today, Sony has extended the offer until July 31, 2011.

Check your email accounts now. Sony has begun sending emails to PlayStation Network and Qriocity users whose personal information were compromised in the network breach. If you registered an email account with PSN or Qriocity at any point before April 20, 2011, Sony will provide you with a year of identity theft protection service provided by Debix.

During Sony’s press conference in which it made announcements regarding its intentions to rectify the problems caused the the PlayStation Network security breach, the company announced it would offer complimentary protection against identity theft. Today Sony revealed the details of that program for its U.S. customers.

Earlier today, we told you about how Sony Online Entertainment shut down Station.com due to a recent intrusion. We now know details of why SOE closed its servers. In a statement that can do nothing but send customers into a worrying frenzy, SOE announced that 12,700 credit card numbers have been stolen.

Sony confirmed earlier this week that personal and account information of millions of PlayStation Network and Qriocity was likely to be compromised. Sony said the thieves may have made off with PSN/Qriocity login information, passwords, email addresses, home addresses and more. The most disturbing possibility is that they may have also obtained credit card numbers and expiration dates. Sony said it doesn’t have any evidence that credit card data has been stolen, but it isn’t ruling out that possibility. When faced with this situation, it’s best to take all the necessary precautions. We’re going to try to help you protect yourself from identity theft.

Here’s another reason as to why you should consistently practice safe online gaming. Antivirus company Symantec has revealed that they’ve uncovered a staggering 44 million stolen gaming accounts. What’s even more surprising was that these accounts were being validated by a Trojan called Trojan.Loginck that was being distributed to infected computers.

According to Symantec’s blog, the server that housed these stolen accounts is part of a distributed password checker that targets Chinese gaming websites. The stolen info comes not only from logins of specific games, but also user login accounts from sites that host online games.

As if cases of pedophiles targeting kids on online gaming services like Xbox Live were not enough, now a case of identity theft on Xbox Live has come to light in Conway, Arkansas. Jonathan Herbert, a 28-year-old Conway resident, had his Xbox Live identity stolen. He notified a local police officer about the identity theft on Wednesday (February 20, 2008).

The police officer sprang into action and, according to The Cabin article, found that someone else was using Herbert’s Live account to play Halo 3 while he was…