It’s all fun and games until someone loses an identity. Sony has announced that its PlayStation Network and its Qriocity streaming service were compromised last week, resulting in the possible loss of the personal information of over 70 million subscribers. Their online gaming network has been down since April 20. Among the information that may have been stolen are names, email addresses, home addresses, birth dates, passwords, and possibly credit card numbers and purchase history. This could be one of the largest personal data breaches in history.

I think it’s safe to say that, unlike a number of recent high profile breaches, this was not a state-sponsored or “cyber terrorist” attack. It’s hardly in a foreign state’s interest to take down a gaming network used primarily by minors. Rather, this is the work of a hacktivist or criminal organization. There is speculation that this was in response to a settlement Sony reached with the hacker George Hotz. But no matter the reason or the perpetrator, the attack is yet another wake-up call for organizations which handle personal or confidential information. If your success is dependent on the loyalty and trust of your customers, you had better be protecting that asset. Investing in next generation security is not a “nice to have”, it’s a “must have” if you value your data and your customers.

Meantime, I feel bad for the millions of parents out there who, in addition to now worrying about their identities and credit cards, have to deal with their complaining teenagers who have been unable to play Call of Duty for the past week.