Hackers hit Sony's PlayStation network

network, just months after a series of attacks brought its systems to a grinding halt, and exposed millions of users to potential data theft, Dark Reading reports.

Sony Network Entertainment International and Sony Online Entertainment (SOE) said they have detected "a large amount of unauthorised sign-in attempts" on PlayStation Network (PSN), Sony Entertainment Network (SEN) and SOE services.

The news comes straight from the company via chief information security chief Philip Reitenger, writing in a post on PlayStation Blog, G4 TV says.

He reveals that user data from "one or more compromised lists from other companies, sites or other sources" was used "to test a massive set of sign-in IDs and passwords against our network database".

According to CNN, only one-tenth of 1% (about 93 000 people divided between PSN and SOE) had their information accessed and were locked down, the company said.

Only a small percentage of those accounts showed suspicious activity after they were accessed.

"We want to take this opportunity to remind our consumers about the increasingly common threat of fraudulent activity online, as well as the importance of having a strong password, and having a username/password combination that is not associated with other online services or sites," Reitenger wrote.