The personal details of over 2.5 million PlayStation and Xbox users has been hacked on PSP ISO and Xbox ISO forums. These forums aren’t directly linked to the distributors of the gaming counsels rather; they are used to share links to free and pirated software.
PlayStation and Xbox Hack
The massive attack is believed to have occurred back in September of 2015, and it remains unclear who is responsible for the cyberattack. The data stolen appears to include email and IP addresses as well as passwords. It’s believed that the hack has been brought to the public’s attention because the hackers have exhausted the use of the stolen data. Almost every time a data breach occurs, the accounts are taken, and usernames and passwords are tested against other sites. Meaning, it’s likely that the hackers took the stolen usernames and passwords and tested them on other sites in an attempt to compromise other accounts used by the victims. Hackers really aren’t interested in what you’re doing on these forums; they are hoping that you use the same usernames and passwords for your banking or email account so they can steal money or other personally identifiable information.
An alternative scenario and a reason we are hearing about this breach 18 months later is that the hackers could have had this information circulating on the dark web or within closed trading circles. If I were a hacker who had the capability of performing data breaches, I would put this information up for sale on these websites to cash in. Why spend the time checking 2.5 million accounts against an endless list of websites when I can sell it within a couple of days? Hackers of all sorts are going to want the personally identifiable information of 2.5 million users, that’s a fact.
Whether the hackers attempted to test the stolen information against other sites or they sold it on the dark web, staying quiet about the data breach is a must. Once the breach becomes public, it becomes less valuable as the victims affected are (hopefully) going to change their usernames and passwords immediately. This is especially important if you use the same login credentials across all of your accounts. While we have warned against doing that for this exact reason, there are still millions of people who have the same usernames and passwords for all websites that require a login, simply because it’s easier to remember.
How to Check Whether You’ve Been Hacked
If you have been involved with the PlayStation ISO or Xbox ISO in the past and you’re worried that your details have been stolen or your account have been breached, there’s a way for you to check. Have I Been Pwned is a website that allows you to enter an email address or username you have used for this forum, or several other websites involved in data breaches, to see whether your account has been hacked. In fact, Have I Been Pwned claims that they have information on 187 websites with over 2 BILLION accounts that have been involved in data breaches.
Whether you have been involved in the PSP ISO or Xbox ISO forums or not, we recommend that you check all of your email addresses and usernames on this site. I actually entered my email address into the website and found that my account has been ‘pwnd’ (breached) from a data breach that occurred in 2012. Luckily, I change my passwords on a regular basis and never use the same password on other accounts. Chances are, of the over 2 billion ‘pwnd’ accounts, your account will show up. Hopefully this will be a wake-up call for you to ensure that all of your accounts are as secure as possible with varying login credentials.
