If you’ve been wondering what the heck happened to Sony’s Playstation Network (its been “unavailable” for several days), now we know. On Tuesday, Sony issued a statement explaining the recent PlayStation Network and Qriocity issues. The company said it discovered that between April 17th and April 19th someone broke into its network and stole user information.

In an effort to stop the security breach, Sony temporarily denied access for everyone to its PlayStation Network and Qriocity services. The company also hired a security firm to investigate and started increasing its security infrastructure.

Sounds goo so far, right? Sony found a problem and is taking steps to correct it.

Well, it gets worse. Here’s part of Sony’s statement:

We believe that an unauthorized person has obtained the following information that you provided: name, address (city, state, zip), country, email address, birthdate, PlayStation Network/Qriocity password and login, and handle/PSN online ID. It is also possible that your profile data, including purchase history and billing address (city, state, zip), and your PlayStation Network/Qriocity password security answers may have been obtained.

Sony said that it doesn’t think credit card data was taken, but it will not rule out the possibility. The company said it’s possible credit card numbers – excluding security codes – may have been obtained by the intruders. The firm advises that its customers “remain vigilant” by closely monitoring credit statements.

Sony says the Playstation network and related services will be reactivated as soon as possible and that customers can dial 1-800-345-7669 with any questions.

Click through for Sony’s official statement. Why do a few assholes have to ruin it for everyone else?

Own a 3G-enabled iPad? You personal data may have been exposed in one of the first kerfuffles to erupt over Apple’s beloved iPad tablet. WiFi-only users? You’re safe for now.

But owners who signed up for 3G service via AT&T have been reportedly subject to an exploit that left nearly 115K iPad owners, including dozens of CEOs, military officials, and top politicians, exposed to hackers whose motives remain unclear.

From what we’re hearing from Gawker’s Valleywag site, the damage seems limited to e-mail addresses alone. However in some cases, these addresses happened to belong to individuals who make them very valuable. 3G subscribers who have been compromised include thousands of A-listers in finance, politics and media.

Would you like to e-mail NY Times Co. CEO Janet Robinson? Or how about Diane Sawyer of ABC News? Is Harvey Weinstein or Mayor Michael Bloomberg more your speed? For hackers who captured these high-level e-mails, even White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel’s address isn’t off-limits. No bueno.

In AT&T’s defense, their security personnel closed the security hole in recent days, but the victims have been unaware, until now. Who did it? Why did they do it? Read on past the jump to learn more about the hacker group responsible for this exploit and how they pulled it off.