This news is almost identical to the several website hacking related stories that we’ve covered in the past. The latest victims are Sega Pass users. The hackers stole some personal information, but financial information was not stored in the Sega Pass database. This is indeed getting very old.

First it was Sony, now it’s Square Enix. The publisher confirmed that hackers breached the Deus Ex: Human Revolution and Eidosmontreal.com websites. The good news is that no credit card information was stolen because Eidosmontreal.com does not possess that information. The bad news is that 350 resumes and 25,000 email addresses were obtained. Just in case you haven’t done so already, change your passwords (again) and be on the lookout for suspicious emails if you’re associated with these sites.

The image you see here is not from Canabalt, the critically acclaimed iOS game that helped to popularize the “just keep running” genre on smartphones. The game you see here is a blatant ripoff called Free Running. This was just released on the App Store today. According to Destructoid, the app was free before jumping to $0.99. The product page now says that after today, the price will rise to $2.99. Let’s hope it’s taken down before then.

Sony chairman Kazuo Hirai replied to a letter Congress sent which questioned many aspects of the PlayStation Network breach. Yesterday, we told you about a file that was left on one of Sony Online Entertainment’s servers. That file was named “Anonymous” and contained the words “We are Legion.” Despite Anonymous’ claims that it isn’t responsible for the attack, this file more or less implicates the organization in this crime. Hirai also explained the possibility of how Anonymous may have played a role in this whether they like it or not.

The past few weeks have not been good for Sony and PlayStation Network account holders, what with the hackers breaking in and taking private data from over 77 million people. It only got worse when the problem extended to Sony Online Entertainment on May 2, 2011, resulting in that service being shut down, over 24 million accounts compromised and around 12,700 credit card numbers were stolen from an outdated database. Sony Online Entertainment has now stepped up to offer details on what its going to be doing to make things right for its violated customers, starting with the people who play DC Universe Online…

Good news everyone! It appears that the number of valid credit cards that were stolen from Sony Online Entertainment were far less than what was actually stolen. Well, I suppose this news isn’t really cause for celebration because the owners of those 900 cards now have to jump through hoops to secure their identities. The credit card and personal information theft was revealed by SOE yesterday. The company said hackers stole the contents of one of its outdated database from 2007.

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.

It’s bad enough Sony lost all of its customer’s encrypted and unencrypted information to some outside entity, but we would at least expect Sony to remember what information it actually had of ours. A couple days ago, Sony posted a Q&A on the PlayStation Blog so that people would stop asking all the same questions. The part in the Q&A about credit card data originally said that the credit card security codes (the three or four digit numbers on the back of cards) were not taken because Sony never asked for them. The problem is that Sony actually did ask for them.

The PlayStation Network breach and subsequent account theft has adverse effects on everyone involved. There have been reports of identity theft even though Sony said it had no evidence that credit cards were taken. Even if they were, Sony said the information was encrypted. Sony itself is also losing lots of money due to PSN being down, added security costs, possible legal fees and costs accumulating from a good will gesture towards customers. Another victim in this case are banks. I know it’s hard considering banks victims of anything, but those organizations could lose millions as well.

Sony has been coming under fire today after it revealed the severity of the PlayStation Network breach. Sony alerted customers that their PSN/Qriocity logins, IDs, email addresses, purchasing history and possibly credit card information had been stolen during the hack. This led many to criticize Sony for not alerting customers earlier. Senator Blumenthal of Connecticut sent a letter to SCEA president Jack Tretton asking this very question. Sony is now saying it didn’t withhold information from its customers.