IF you're one of the 77 million  people signed up to the PlayStation Network, criminals could already  know your name, your address and perhaps even your credit card number.                    
That's what electronics giant Sony is telling users of its online gaming service today.
The  PlayStation Network, or PSN, has been offline since last week. In  recent days Sony said the outage was the result of an "external  intrusion".
Now the company has revealed just how much trouble it’s in.
Overnight  Sony began sending an alert to "all of our registered account holders"  telling them that their personal information had been stolen.
"We  believe that an unauthorised person has obtained the following  information that you provided: name, address (city, state, zip),  country, email address, birthdate, PlayStation Network/Qriocity password  and login, and handle/PSN online ID," the alert said.
"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.
"While there is no evidence at this time that credit card data was taken, we cannot rule out the possibility.
"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."
The company said the PSN was still offline  and it had hired a security firm to "conduct a full and complete  investigation into what happened".
In the meantime, it has asked  PSN users to be "vigilant" about the possibility of identity theft and  to review their credit card statements.
Sony warned customers not to fall for any scam messages including those that appeared to be from the company itself.
"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. If you are asked for this information, you can  be confident Sony is not the entity asking," it said.
You can read the full security alert 
here.