SONY has shut down its PlayStation Network indefinitely after fears hackers that crashed the system have accessed credit card details.
More than 70 million registered users play online games, shop and stream movies on the network that crashed last Wednesday.
Sony confirmed an "external intrusion" had jeopardised the network which now had to be completely rebuilt to secure user's details.
"This is a time intensive process and we're working to get them back online quickly," Sony spokesman Patrick Seybold said in a blog post.
He said Sony did not yet know if users' credit card information or other personal information had been compromised.
"Unfortunately, I don't have an update or timeframe to share at this point in time," he said.
"We'll keep you updated with information as it becomes available."
It's believed hackers targeted Sony after it sued US man George Hotz for cracking the PlayStation hardware system, allowing users to play pirated games and home-made applications.
Sony settled out-of-court with Hotz last month on the condition he never attempt to crack Sony systems again.
Hacker group "Anonymous" have denied involvement in the breach in a blog post titled "For Once We Didn't Do it" however it admitted rogue hackers could be responsible.
Tags: PlayStation Network, PSN, PlayStation, PS3
