Group Brags Sony Easy to Hack

AFP/AFP/Getty Images(TOKYO) -- Whoever the hackers at LulzSec are, they talk big. They claim to have gotten into the files of Sony Pictures Entertainment and stolen information on more than 1 million consumers. They claim they defaced the website of the PBS NewsHour as a protest against a Frontline documentary on WikiLeaks. And they say they're not done yet.

"We accessed EVERYTHING," said the group on a website it advertised on Twitter. It claimed it compromised "passwords, email addresses, home addresses, dates of birth and all Sony opt-in data associated with their accounts. Among other things, we also compromised all admin details of Sony Pictures (including passwords) along with 75,000 'music codes' and 3.5 million 'music coupons.'"

"Why do you put such faith in a company that allows itself to become open to these simple attacks?" said the message on the site. The website was registered only on Wednesday with an address in the Bahamas, according to an ABC News search of Internet registries. Security consultants said LulzSec's claims seemed genuine, and phone numbers posted on the site turned out to be authentic.

Sony issued a statement on Friday saying: "We have confirmed that a breach has occurred and have taken action to protect against further intrusion," it said. "We also retained a respected team of experts to conduct the forensic analysis of the attack, which is ongoing."

Security consultants said the attack probably wasn't really aimed at those million Sony customers.

"If they're stealing passwords to do something bad, they're not going to announce it," said Kevin Haley, director of security response at Symantec, the computer-security firm. "But it's definitely a good idea to change your passwords."

For Sony, though -- and other companies hit by so-called "hactivists" -- the consequences could be much more serious. "Sony desperately needs to get their security act together," said Rob Enderle, an information-technology consultant, in an email to ABC News. "This could (with connected litigation and government response) effectively put them out of business."

The company is still trying to recover from an attack in April on its PlayStation video game network -- which had 77 million online accounts worldwide. Sony was forced to shut the network down and rebuild it, a process that took weeks.

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