Breach Database / Sony
Yes — Sony was breached.
- 37,103 accounts affected
- Breach occurred 2011-06-02 · sony.com
- Verified entry in the Have I Been Pwned catalog
What happened
In 2011, Sony suffered breach after breach after breach — it was a very bad year for them. The breaches spanned various areas of the business ranging from the PlayStation network all the way through to the motion picture arm, Sony Pictures. A SQL Injection vulnerability in sonypictures.com lead to tens of thousands of accounts across multiple systems being exposed complete with plain text passwords.
What data was exposed
- Dates of birth
- Email addresses
- Genders
- Names
- Passwords
- Phone numbers
- Physical addresses
- Usernames
What to do right now
- Change your password for this service now. And change it anywhere you reused the same password — attackers try leaked passwords on other sites within hours ("credential stuffing").
- Turn on two-factor authentication. Even a leaked password is useless against an account protected by a second factor. Prefer an authenticator app over SMS.
- Be alert for smishing and SIM-swap attempts. Treat unexpected texts and "carrier" calls with suspicion; add a PIN/port-freeze with your mobile carrier.
- Watch for targeted phishing mail. A leaked home address makes postal and doorstep scams more convincing.
- Expect convincing phishing emails. Attackers use breached details to write personalized emails. Be suspicious of any message referencing this service.
- Check your other accounts on Have I Been Pwned. Your email address may appear in other breaches you don't know about yet.
- Monitor the apps you use going forward. Clearly watches the breach record for the companies behind your apps and alerts you the moment one appears.
Breach data from Have I Been Pwned. Listing here means the service appears in the public breach record — not that your personal data was affected.