Despite all the panic and furor, Sony has released some official statements on the matter of the hacking that took place several days ago. The personal data such as name, address, and other data was left unencrypted, but the credit card info which is a separate field was encrypted.
They’re still not sure if it was taken or not, but since the data is encrypted, there is little chance you can be a victim of credit card fraud.
However, you should still keep a sharp eye on your transactions. Encryption, though incredibly strong, is not infallible. It is said an infinite amount of monkeys banging on an infinite amount of typewriters will eventually produce the entire works of Shakespeare, and the same applies here.
I take back some of my remarks on Sony not taking responsibility. Encrypting the CC info was the best they did and it was what most were worrying about. The next update to Playstation Network will force all users to change their passwords, and will likely have far more security than the previous.
Most importantly, they are working with law enforcement and plan to track down those responsible. Once their names and faces are known to the public, they will have 77,000,000 very angry people armed with tar and feathers to contend with.
