Sony offers PSN identity theft protection

Platform holder Sony is providing PlayStation Network users with identity theft protection following its security breach.

A number of European PSN users will be able to receive personal data protection for free for the first 12 months, as part of a deal between Sony and protection firm Affinion International Limited.

Users in the UK, France, Spain, Italy and Germany will have access to the protection. Sony says it is working to extend this security package to other countries.

Affinion’s fraud protection programme includes the following features, as listed on the European PlayStation Blog:

– Monitoring and alerting service
– Personal information protection software
– Dedicated helpline
– Victim of fraud support
– Insurance that covers the expenses incurred in identity restoration following identity fraud
– Card monitoring and alerting service

Last weekend Sony switched PSN back on after almost one month of downtime following an illegal breach of the system. The login passwords and personal information of around 77m PSN users were accessed, and while Sony said there was no evidence that credit card details were stolen, it didn’t rule out the possibility.