Sony: "No evidence" of PSN intrusion

The PlayStation Network has not been compromised, according to Sony, following claims the PSN had been hacked along with 2K Games and Windows Live.

Last week, a group released thousands of PSN, 2K Games and Windows Live usernames and passwords, claiming to have hacked all three networks.

Microsoft and 2K Games are yet to issue a statement, but a Sony representative has told Joystiq that there has been no hack.

"We have investigated the claims that our network was breached and have found no evidence that there was any intrusion into our network," the platform holder said.

"Unfortunately, Internet fraud including phishing and password matching are realities that consumers and online networks face on a regular basis. We take these reports very seriously and will continue to monitor our network closely."

What Sony's saying here is that the data dumped by the group may be real, but it wasn't gathered by some sort of elite hacking - just shilling users with phishing, brute force password matching, or reposts from earlier hacks (which is kind of amusing if you read the group's statement on the matter).

CNET, which was one of the first to publish the original story, has since updated its article with a comment acknowledging the source of the data may not be a hack.

Breathe a sigh of relief, then, because it seems your data is safe - for now. It's still worthwhile changing your passwords, as you ought to on the regular anyway, on the off-chance your ID was one of those the group figured out through non-hacking means.