A ransomware group known as “Ransomed.VC Group” has made the claim that it’s managed to get into “all of Sony’s” systems. It doesn’t take much speculation to to think that this includes PSN. So yeah, maybe take a minute and change your password today. Even if it turns out to be a false claim, at least your account will be a little more secure.

As reported by Cyber Security Connect, the group is a newcomer to the ransomware space (and how messed up is it that there’s a “space” for that at all?), having only been in operation for less than a month. This would mean that it’s out to make a name for itself, hence the actions it’s claiming to have taken. As proof of the hack, the group has posted a sample of 6,000 files and a file tree to go with them. It has not been confirmed by Sony or anyone else whether this is real or not, but the group is trying to sell what it claims to have stolen. Supposedly, if no one buys the data by 9/28, it’ll all be published online for everyone to see and potetially exploit. Hopefully the group is just spewing hot air, but I’m definitely changing my password all the same.

While I can’t really blame Sony for getting hacked (if they’ve indeed been hacked), I can’t help but lament just how much more vulnerable the internet seems to have made the average person. We all have so many accounts, passwords and internet-integrated systems in our live now that it’s kind of a miracle that more of us aren’t getting hit by this kind of stuff. I mean if mega-corps like Sony can get hacked, how could the rest of us possibly fare?

There’s largely no getting away from this stuff either. It’s use the internet or some service that’s tied to the internet (like your bank) and potentially be exposed to this sort of stuff, or don’t and try to deal without. While I certainly feel like I could do without a lot of my online-integrated services, doing without things like banking would be difficult to say the least. Well anyway, stay safe out there y’all and change those passwords regularly.

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How do you feel about all this? Are you surprised? Do you think it’s real? Would you prefer to have less internet in your life?

Image by Flickr user Fe Ilya (CC BY-SA 2.0)