Accounts Hacked at Small Sony Unit

TOKYO—So-net Entertainment Corp, an Internet service provider subsidiary of Sony Corp., said an online intruder accessed its customer rewards site earlier this week and stole customers' redeemable gift points worth about $1,225.

The breach at So-net comes several days after Sony resumed service on its PlayStation Network and Sony Online Entertainment online videogame services after a data breach compromised the personal information tied to more than 100 million accounts.

"Although we can't completely rule out the possibility that there is a connection with the PSN issue, the likelihood is low," said Keisuke Watabe, a spokesman at So-net Entertainment. He said it was unlikely because the method of intrusion used was so different.

In a warning to users issued on Thursday, So-net said an intruder tried 10,000 times to access the provider's "So-net" point service, which grants customers reward points that can be exchanged for Sony products and online currency, from the same IP address. So-net said it thinks the intruder had usernames of account holders and then may have used an automated software program to generate passwords until it found the correct one.

So-net, which is about 58% owned by Sony and a Sony financial unit, said the points from 128 customer accounts were redeemed without permission. Another 73 accounts were accessed, but the points were not redeemed. Also, 90 email accounts on the So-net network were compromised.

It said there is no evidence that any personal data such as names, addresses, birth dates or phone numbers were viewed. The company said it discovered the breach on May 18 after receiving complaints from customers. The company discovered that the intrusions took place on May 16 and 17. Once it found out about the breach, the provider said it halted the redemption service.

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