Sony has finally come clean about the "external intrusion" that has caused the company to take down the PlayStation Network service, and the news is almost as bad as it can possibly get. The hackers have all your personal information, although Sony is still unsure about whether your credit card data is safe. Everything else on file when it comes to your account is in the hands of the hackers.

In other words, Sony's security has failed in a spectacular fashion, and we're just now finding out about it. In both practical and PR terms, this is a worst-case scenario.

What did they get?

Here is the data that Sony is sure has been compromised if you have a PlayStation Network Account:

Your name

Your address (city, state, and zip)

Country

E-mail address

Birthday

PSN password and login name

"It is also possible that your profile data, including purchase history and billing address (city, state, zip), and your PlayStation Network/Qriocity password security answers may have been obtained. If you have authorized a sub-account for your dependent, the same data with respect to your dependent may have been obtained," Sony announced. While the company claims that there is "no evidence" that credit card information has been compromised, it won't rule out the possibility.

Their advice is to be safe, rather than sorry. "If you have provided your credit card data through PlayStation Network or Qriocity, out of an abundance of caution we are advising you that your credit card number (excluding security code) and expiration date may have been obtained."

What can you do?

You are warned to keep watch over your accounts, and to be aware of your heightened risk of fraud due to the security breach. "For your security, we encourage you to be especially aware of e-mail, telephone, and postal mail scams that ask for personal or sensitive information," the company said. "Sony will not contact you in any way, including by email, asking for your credit card number, social security number or other personally identifiable information."

Sony has also provided a wealth of sources for data and protection against identity theft.

You may wish to visit the web site of the U.S. Federal Trade Commission at www.consumer.gov/idtheft or reach the FTC at 1-877-382-4357 or 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20580 for further information about how to protect yourself from identity theft. Your state Attorney General may also have advice on preventing identity theft, and you should report instances of known or suspected identity theft to law enforcement, your State Attorney General, and the FTC. For North Carolina residents, the Attorney General can be contacted at 9001 Mail Service Center, Raleigh, NC 27699-9001; telephone (877) 566-7226; or www.ncdoj.gov. For Maryland residents, the Attorney General can be contacted at 200 St. Paul Place, 16th Floor, Baltimore, MD 21202; telephone: (888) 743-0023; or www.oag.state.md.us.

To be fair, Sony does apologize for the inconvenience. There is still no update on when service will be restored, but that is the least of your concerns if you have a PlayStation Network account. It's time to change your passwords, at the very least, and if you're like to be completely safe it's not a bad idea to cancel your credit or debit cards and request replacements.

We'll continue to follow this story as it develops.