Give me a crash course in . . . Sony's network break-in

Sony admitted this week that information about up to 77 million customers using its online games and digital content networks could have been compromised after they were broken into. It temporarily suspended its PlayStation and Qriocity networks while figuring out what exactly had gone on.

Why did Sony take so long to admit what happened?The company said it discovered the breach on April 19th and shut down the services. But the full extent of the data breach wasn't revealed until an outside security company had a look. Sony admitted the reason for the network outage on April 26th – hours after it unveiled its new tablet devices in Tokyo. It's safe to say people are not amused.

What data was taken?It would probably be quicker to ask what wasn't. According to Sony, the information that could have been swiped in the attack includes names, addresses, e-mails, birth dates, PlayStation network/Qriocity passwords and logins and handles/PSN online IDs. Purchase history and billing address and password security answers may also have been compromised. In other words, enough information to make a good attempt at identity theft or to launch phishing attacks to trick you into handing over the rest of your details. Credit-card information doesn't appear to have been taken, but Sony couldn't rule it out.

So my information wasn't safe?That's not strictly the case. Although personal information such as user name and address was unencrypted, Sony says credit-card data was encrypted. And the company insists the information, both personal and financial, was kept behind a "sophisticated" security system. But although tech companies are smart, hackers are often smarter.

I'm a PSN customer. What do I do now?Watch your credit-card account for unusual activity. And if anyone sends you an e-mail claiming to be Sony and asking to confirm information by e-mail, bin it. Sony won't ask for personally identifiable information in such a manner. It's probably a good idea to change passwords for any accounts linked to the PSN information – your e-mail account, for example.

I'm having Black Ops withdrawal symptoms. When will PSN be back up?Sony said it hopes to have "limited services" back early next week. And Sony is hinting at some goodwill gestures for affected customers.

And what's this about Apple?Sony isn't the only firm in the headlines. Two researchers have revealed that iPhones and 3G-enabled iPads running the latest version of Apple's operating system keep track of where your phone has been, complete with latitude and longitude data plus time stamps. The unencrypted file – a stalker's dream – is stored on your device and transferred to your computer when you connect your phone to it. So anyone who has access to your computer could access the file. After days of silence, Apple said it isn't actually tracking you; it's just how the phone determines its location. The difference between tracking your location and "maintaining a database of Wi-Fi hotspots and cell towers around your current location" is probably minimal, but Apple says some may be more than 150km from your actual location. A promised update will limit the length of time the data is stored for. So that's okay then.