Sony's massive data breach - 77 million customer accounts was stolen

Sony's PlayStation Network, a service that produces an estimated $500 million in annual revenues, provides access to online games, movies and TV shows. Nine out of 10 of PlayStation's users are based in the United States or Europe.

Sony said it had encrypted all credit card numbers, which would make it extremely difficult for hackers to access that data. But criminals might use other personal information that was not encrypted to launch scams.

With birthdates, email addresses and home addresses, hackers can launch spear "phishing" attacks that are targeted at those individuals.

Spear phishing refers to attacks that are customised to each individual target. Hackers draft emails that contain enough personal information to persuade the victim to let down their defenses, which can be enough to get them to click on a link that downloads malicious software onto their personal computer.