Sony has now given users of its online Playstation Network that were affected by the cyber attacks a few months ago a little bit more time to sign up for a free one year identity theft protection service. A notice on Sony"s official Playstation blog site announced that sign ups for the service, provided by AllClear ID Plus and first announced on May 8, have now been extended to July 31 for US users. The same post said that PSN users in Canada and also in countries located in Latin America will learn more about their identity protection plans "soon".
Just a reminder; if you are one of the tens of millions of PSN users in the US who were affected by the cyber attacks that hit the service on April 20 you are eligible to sign up for the ID protection service. The protection last for one year after the sign up happens. AllClear ID Plus will get monthly status reports on their identity and will alert the user via phone and/or email if personal info is found on "criminal web sites and data recovered by law enforcement."
If needed, the service will also provide users "with an identity restoration specialist to contact creditors and others, and take necessary steps to restore the customer’s identity." Finally if a PSN user is truly the victim of idenity theft, the service will provide insurance of up to "$1 million for covered identity restoration costs, legal defense expenses, and lost wages that occur within 12 months after the stolen identity event."