PlayStation social network hack gives us all the willies

PlayStation's social presence has been compromised, which probably doesn't mean anything. Or does it.

Earlier today a series of weird tweets and Facebook posts suggested PlayStation's social network accounts had been compromised.

The posts have all since been deleted and Sony has made no comment on the matter, and we'd generally be pretty happy to leave it at that - who wants to give these dull little groups attention for their boring pranks?

The thing is though, the group also made a claim about having breached the "PlayStation Network Databases", although it declined to share any of that. (Multiple sites including Kotaku and Destructoid have screenshots of the claim, if you missed the drama.)

Now, it's totally possible that is a nonsense claim, since the security of social network accounts accessed by maybe dozens of Sony staff is a tissue-thin barrier compared to what will be wrapped around the PSN and its user data, and you can't trust comments from people engaging in illicit activities.

But. But. But. We all remember the enormous PSN hack of 2011 - and more importantly, the outrageous amount of time it took Sony to confirm that a breach had occurred and that we should all change our passwords.

So any hint of security issues at PlayStation gives us the willies, and while we wait for Sony to acknowledge the social network breach and comment on the group's claims, we may as well check in with sensible online security measures. To whit:

• Don't use duplicate passwords across multiple sites or services.
• Ensure your passwords are strong and difficult to guess.
• Check the URL of sites before entering your login details.
• Don't respond to emails requesting your user data.
• Change your passwords regularly, especially after confirmed breaches.

Alright? There's no need for panic. If you've got sensible security in place across all your online identities even a full PSN breach should cause no more hassle than updating your password. Sony stores financial data in encrypted files, thankfully.