Ask Parry: How worried do I need to be about the Sony PlayStation data breach?

"Worried" is too strong a word. I prefer "concerned." The Sony data breach is the largest ofrecord, to my knowledge. More than 100 million users had their data compromised. The levelof concern depends on what data they had about you. Email addresses? Not too worried. Most spammers have those. As long as you don't fall for any scams directed at you by email that also include your name, account number, etc. that the hackers may also have obtained, you sould be okay.
If you lost your security questions, again, not a huge problem if you use different ones on each site or change the other sites' security questions right away.
If you are among the unluckier group, your financial data may have been compromied. YOur credit card or other financial account info may now be in the hackers' hands.
We created a section fo the WiredSafety site to address questions about the Sony breach. Contact the reporting agencies, learn from our site and the FTV.gov ID theft pages, watch your accounts, notify your credit card companies and change you account info on other sites.
But more than anything else, do not panic.